A Dark Path
by SilverFallen
Summary: He's gone forever, and he took her with him, leading her down a dark and dangerous path. Can her sisters find the girl they once knew, or is she gone forever? OC's
1. Goodbye My Lover

_You touched my heart, you touched my soul  
You changed my life and all my goals  
And love is blind and that I knew when  
My heart was blinded by you  
I've kissed your lips and held your hand  
Shared your dreams and shared your bed  
I know you well, I know your smell  
I've been addicted to you_

_Goodbye my lover  
Goodbye my friend  
You have been the one  
You have been the one for me_

_"Goodbye My Lover" - James Blunt_

_--_

Lightly a sheet of rain fell through the grey sky, casting a dim shadowy mist. What was normally a beautiful meadow, bright and colorful with its lush trees and grass, was now a sight of mourning. A few hours prior, the small clearing had been packed with dozens of mourners, but as the flowers in front of the grave mounted and grew in number, the mourners left, until only a few remained. Now, only five girls remained. Two remained standing, while the other three were down on the ground, but of those three, only one continued to sob insanely; the other two - while mourning themselves - were mostly consoling their friend. She sat with her legs tucked under her, and her head buried in her hands completely, but her muffled sobs still escaped to the other girls.

Finally, one of the girls sitting down turned to her sobbing friend and quietly said, "Let's go, this is depressing." She rested her hand lightly on her friends shoulder and waited. No response came. Her black eyebrows lowered over murky blue eyes, shifting her expression to one of worry. "Nikki, come on."

"Leave me alone." Nikki said, shrugging away the hand on her shoulder.

"Staying here isn't good imotsan. You're just making it worse for yourself." She said again, trying to convince her friend.

"I know Rae... I just..." Nikki said, looking up with red, puffy eyes. "I can't leave him..."

A long silence stretched amongst the group. Nikki's eyes remained locked on the name in carved on the grave. Slowly she shook her head as if to shake away his death completely. "I just can't believe he's gone."

"We can't either..." Nikki looked over to the other girl sitting next to her. The youngest. Her teammate. He had been her sensei too, so she had been the last to stop grieving, except for Nikki herself. Raidon had before the youngest, but after the girls who were standing.

"You guys can go if you want; I'm going to stay here." She said looking up at the other girls.

"We're not leaving you here." Aiko, who remained standing, said with a sigh. The rain continued to fall, only harder now, plastering their hair to their faces. "You're going to get sick."

"I don't care Aiko..." Nikki said, burying her head again.

"Well we do." Now it was Lycan to talk.

Nikki sighed and turned her head towards the sky, watching the rain fall onto her face. She was blind to the concern of her sisters' and all she could see was the heavens mourning her fallen friend. Half of her was glad for the rain that washed away her tears, knowing somebody up there was mourning him as well, but another half felt like she was being upstaged; who up there loved him more then she did to cry for so long? Wasn't she the one who had lost the most important person in her life? He was her everything; her best friend, her first friend, he was her sensei, her protector, he was her whole heart, and he had taken her heart with him. A parting gift, her final good-bye, she had given him her heart, it was his to keep.

A new set of tears flowed down her face, as his voice rang out in her mind. His final hour kept replaying in her mind, and all she could think of was how many things she had done wrong, how if she had done this little thing differently or that little thing, maybe he would have survived. How maybe he would have lived to her eighteenth birthday, only a few months away. Instead, he barely made it past his thirty-second birthday. How unfair that was. "It's not fair." She cried, her body trembling and her voice breaking. "It's not fair..."

"We know it's not." Aiko said, as she seemed to be the only one who could get a grip on her words. "He was too young; but we can't stay here. You can't stay here. You're a wreck."

"Come on, let's get you home." Raidon said, rising to her feet. She held her hand out for her friend, but the brunette refused. She didn't even acknowledge the offer.

"It won't be home without him." A whisper. "I don't want to be alone there..."

"You won't be alone." Éclair said. "We'll stay with you, and you know Aiko and Gaara are staying for a couple of days."

"That's not what I meant." Nikki said coldly as she locked her dark blue gaze with Éclair's vibrant purple gaze. "Either way, I'm alone. Aiko and Gaara have their own room together. I... I haven't spent a night with out him in years." She said.

In a happier time, she would have been teased greatly for this fact; that she always slept in the same bed as him. But not now. Not anymore. They knew better. Sadly, it was true; she had grown so accustomed to being beside him nearly 24 hours a day, there was now a void throughout her being, as if a piece of her was missing. More like her whole being was more like it.

"We know... but you can't stay here..." Aiko said again, now fearing that her sister was planning to stay out here until she died as well. "We'll work through this." When Nikki didn't respond, Aiko heaved a sigh. What else could she do?

"You know, Aiko lost Gaara as well." Lycan said lightly, like a suggestion.

Nikki blinked in surprise, then turned at the waist to face her older sister. "They brought Gaara back!" She yelled, fury now mixing with her sorrow. "He's still here! Nobody's over going to bring Kakashi back! I'll never see him again!" As soon as the words escaped her lips, she bit her lip, regretting every word. New tears flowed down her cheeks as she shook her head. "Lycan, I'm sorry, I didn't mean too..."

"It's alright..." Lycan said, shooting a glance at Aiko, but Aiko's vision was clouded as she stared down at the ground, rain dripping from her dark eyelashes.

"Aiko?" Raidon asked, noticing her strange behavior.

"Nikki's right..." Aiko sighed. "I still get to see Gaara's face everyday. You still get to see Neji's, and you guys," She shot a glance at Lycan and Éclair, "still get to see Kiba and Naruto. I don't blame you for being angry."

Now, Nikki turned away and stared at the ground before lifting her gaze to the name in front of her; _Hatake Kakashi._ Slowly, she raised her arm, and brushed her fingertips across the engraving. The stone was cold and slippery beneath her fingers, but worse of all, she knew it was solid; it was real. She ran her forefinger across the letters, writing the name invisibly across the tomb. Then slowly, her hand dropped down and rested on her lap. "I shouldn't have though... In a way, we went through the same thing, but I cannot expect you to relate..." She shook her head, not really sure what she needed to say, not sure how to word it properly. "Thinking of you and Gaara happy together, makes me feel better. Just thinking of how happy you two are, or how happy Rae and Neji, and Clair and Naruto, and Lyc and Kiba, just makes me happy; I guess just seeing you guys happy. But it makes me wonder, you guys all make beautiful couples, were... Kakashi and I like that?" She asked, continuing to stare at the stone.

"Nikki..." Éclair said first, a smile on her face. "You two were the cutest couple. I always knew you two liked each other, before you even started dating. It was always cute watching you two walk around town, holding hands and smiling... and laughing..." Nikki smiled weakly.

"You want to know what I always thought was funny." Raidon said, chuckling. "How much you enjoyed it when we harassed you about how much older he is." Now Nikki chuckled as well. "We were the only ones who could tease you about it, but you always accepted it, and just played along with it."

"I did, didn't I?" She wiped away the rain and tears that mixed like paints on the palette of her face.

"Well, I wasn't surprised when you two finally admitted you were a couple." Lycan said. "How long were you dating before you admitted it?"

"About a year." Nikki said.

"How'd you keep it a secret so long?" Éclair asked with slight shock.

Nikki merely shrugged. "Oh come on, you saw how hard it was for us to hold hands in public for the first few weeks. We never could kiss in public."

"Not your fault." Raidon laughed.

"Nah." Nikki denied. "You never caught us making out in a restaurant? It wasn't common, but after awhile, I'd just get annoyed and off with the mask." She chuckled. When they shook their heads, she exaggerated as she let her mouth hang open. "Gasp." She said weakly.

"Nikki's back!" Lycan teased. It was true; slowly bits and pieces of the old Nikki, the happy one, slipped out as a smile slid across her face, replacing the tears. However, by now, nobody could tell who was crying anymore; the rain still gave the affect of tears flowing down the gentle curves of their fair cheeks. What they couldn't see though, was that tears still flowed, only less in number then before.

"Okay, but I have to say, I thought you two were a great couple." Aiko said. "What I loved the most, was how you two didn't care about your age difference. You cared more about protecting him because of what other would say about the difference. You two always protected each other." Nikki's lips were turned up slightly, but not enough to be a smile as she turned back to stare at his grave; not ignoring Aiko, just taking in the compliment with her fallen beloved. "And I loved how you two weren't a sappy couple, well, you were, but in your own way." Then she shrugged. "There was just something unique about you two as a couple that I can't explain, but I could always see, even if you weren't kissing or being all gushy, you were being a couple, you know?"

And they did understand, although none of them could fully explain it.

"Thanks..." She finally said with a sigh. "Help me up." They rose to their feet then all but Nikki turned ready to leave. "Just, give me one minute. I'll catch up."

"You sure?" Raidon asked.

Nikki nodded and smiled lightly. When they started walking away, she looked back down at the grave. She crouched and placed her hand above his name then whispered to the grave - to him - quietly. "I promise this won't be in vain. I love you... more then anything. I always will, so please don't look down upon me for getting vengeance. I can't let him live." She paused. "Wait for me, alright? I promise I'll never let anyone replace you, if you never replace me." She rose to her feet again, and before turning to follow her sisters she said to herself, "I hope we will not be separated for two long." Then, she turned and walked away to the girls that stood, waiting patiently for her.

--

Walking as silently as possible, she peeked into the bedroom of the lovers, making sure they were both lost in slumber. When she felt certain they were both deep asleep, she walked into the small living room, following her instinct and her knowledge of the home, for there was not enough light to trust her eyes. When she reached the couch with the small coffee table in front of it, she reached into her pants pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, and placed on the table so it would easily be found. She stared at it for a minute, hearing its words replaying in her mind, the words she had wrote only moments earlier. Then she turned away towards the door, clutching the backpack strap across her shoulder. This was what she wanted to do, and she had no regrets. She only feared her faithful companion had been awoken and had taken pursuit, but every time she checked, she was alone.

She took one last, long look at the house - her home - then walked out, closed the door lightly, and ran off, determined to complete this task.

--

_Aiko,_

_I'm sorry to say that by the time you read this, I'll probably be long gone. There's just something I need to do elsewhere. I also can't stand to be in this house right now; there's just one too many memories. I need to heal. I promise to return, so please don't fret over me. There should be enough food if you two are going to stay much longer. Thank you so much for all your help in this hard time. I wish you both a safe journey home. Please tell Raidon, Éclair and Lycan I won't be gone long, and pass on my thanks and love._

_Much love,_

_Nikki_

_P.S. Shikamaru wanted us to pass this message along; tell Temari he sends his love as well._


	2. Headstrong

_I see your fantasy  
You want to make it a reality paved in gold  
See inside, inside of our heads, yeah  
Well, now that's over_

I see your motives inside

_Back off, I'll take you on  
Headstrong to take on anyone  
I know that you are wrong  
Headstrong, we're headstrong_

_"Headstrong" - Trapt_

--

They had been running for what felt like a lifetime. For all they knew, maybe it had been a lifetime. Even his breath came ragged and rough. That was a first. Despite their exhaustion, they kept running. It wasn't until a small cave made its way into view, and the two quickly ducked into it. Then, they waited and held their breath.

After a few minutes, a large group of ANBU members ran pass the cave, yelling at each other, desperately trying to find two criminals. Two criminals who were sitting right under their nose. As soon as the ANBU were gone, the two criminals let out a sound that was a mixture between a groan and a sigh. It wasn't until a few minutes later that they had both even caught their breath.

She turned her sapphire gaze on him, and he immediately saw the regret on her face.

"He's still out there." She said weakly. "We couldn't kill him..."

"I know..." He said with a frown. He turned away from her and stared at the ground, knowing that wasn't what she wanted to hear. She wanted revenge. "But we will get him. We won't let Kakashi's murderer get away."

Immediately he regretted bringing up their sensei's death again. It had only been a few weeks. The thought of him being dead was still raw in her mind, and still struck a cord. Tears pooled in her eyes, a mixture of depression and pure hatred.

"I hate that fucking bastard!" She cried out, slamming her fist against the wall. "He better die a painful death! And a slow one at that!"

"Nikki..." He said softly, watching as she continued to bang her fist into the wall. When she didn't respond, he called again, louder this time. "Nikki!" Still, she refused to look his way.

"Shizuka!" He hissed, grabbing her fist, feeling the warm liquid that was her blood, ooze down from her knuckles into his palm. Of course it wasn't until he was forced to use her real name did she finally turn her attention on him. "It's not going to bring Kakashi back. He's gone."

She turned her glare on him, with fat tears rolling down her cheeks. They stared at each other long and hard, before her expression softened, and she wiped away the tears with her sleeve. She looked down at her bloody knuckles, then shook away the crimson liquid in disgust, leaving little drops of red across the floor and walls of the cave.

"We need to go now." He said finally, as he rose to his feet. He turned and held his hand out to her, and when she took it, he helped her up. They cautiously walked to the mouth of the cave and took a look around. When they had Sharingan approval that the coast was clear, the two made a run for it.

"Sasuke! Do you even know where we're going?" She hissed in between breaths as they ran.

He just nodded and continued to run.

With a frown, she tried her best to keep up, but already she was exhausted and needed to rest again. However, she didn't say a word. They couldn't risk getting caught. They'd almost been caught already, after they let Kakashi's murderer get away.

They'd only been running for half an hour when they were stopped. A figure dressed in a long, flowing black cloak dropped down from the trees in front of them, and blocked their path. The first thing they noticed, was the few splotches of red scattered across the cloak. Red Clouds. Akatsuki.

"What the hell do you want?" Sasuke hissed, glaring at the Akatsuki member.

"Well you're quick to the get to the point." The Akatsuki said indifferently. They couldn't see any part of his face through the veil that hung down from his straw-hat, however, it wasn't enough to block the Sharingan's line of sight.

When the Uchiha saw the face of the Akatsuki member, his eyes widened slightly and he stepped protectively in front of his companion. She shot him a quick glance before looking back at the Akatsuki member with a frown.

Catching the slight re-adjustment of position, the Akatsuki smirked slightly. "Ahh, somebody's a little protective, aren't we?" He said in an amused tone. "I wouldn't have expected that from one like you, Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke just glared at him.

Resting her hand on his arm, Shizuka whispered into Sasuke's ear, asking him who the Akatsuki member was that he suddenly felt the need to protect her.

"Listen to me," He started in a whisper, keeping his eyes fixed on the Akatsuki. "I want you to get out of here, now. Go somewhere safe and wait awhile, then finish what we started, okay?"

Her dark blue eyes widened with alarm as she watched him then turned to the Akatsuki member. "I'm not leaving you here Sasuke." She said stubbornly.

"And I can't convince you out of it?" He asked.

"Hell no." She hissed, now glaring at the Akatsuki.

Sasuke frowned, not knowing what to do with her stubbornness. Instead of wasting his time on a problem that was unfixable, he turned his attention back to the Akatsuki and repeated his question; "What do you want?"

The Akatsuki member sighed. "You're awfully rude. I'll break you of that habit."

"You stay away from him!" Shizuka yelled, catching Sasuke off guard. He shot her a warning glance then turned back to the Akatsuki member.

"May I continue? Or are you going to rudely interrupt me again?" The Akatsuki member asked. When she just glared in response, he continued. "Thank you. To answer your question, I am here to offer you both the opportunity to join us."

"And what if we don't want to?" The young Uchiha asked, straining to keep his voice calm and level; straining to keep the exhaustion and hatred out of his voice.

"Well," The Akatsuki said, pulling his hat off. "I don't think you have much of a choice."

As the veil and hat were pulled away, locks of spiky orange hair revealed themselves to the two young nins. His eyes were a curious sight, with rings along the irises. He had snake-bit piercing, and three studs running up the sides of his nose. He had at least six piercing on each ear as well as a bar piercing through the inside of his ear. His amount of piercing easily surpassed that of Shizuka, who had three piercing on each ear - two on the lobe of the ear, and one along the top cartilage of each ear.

The Uchiha's glare only intensified as his thoughts were confirmed. They were dealing with the Akatsuki leader. The legendary Pain. Even Jiraya couldn't defeat him. There was no way two inexperienced teens could win against a man like him. The thought only made Sasuke more determined to protect his partner.

"You two will join me. Just think of it as repaying a debt for the problems you have caused me and my men." Pain said with a slight smirk. He turned his gaze first to Sasuke. "You killed one of my best men, even after he tried to protect you. I think it is only fair that you replace Itachi." Sasuke glared at him. "And as for you Ms. Nara." Pain turned his attention now to Shizuka. "Your cousin, Shikamaru I believe? Yes, something like that. He is responsible for the death of Hidan. Not to mention your dear friends helped kill Kakuzu. I'm sure you wouldn't want them to be hurt because of it. You can repay that debt for them."

"Don't you dare touch Shikamaru or any one of them you bastard!" She yelled. Her hands clenched in fists at her side as she thought of her cousin who was like a brother to her. "If you touch them I'll kill you!"

At the threat, Pain laughed. "You? Kill me? Oh I would love to see that." As if he had never heard a joke so funny before in his life, he laughed sadistically.

"Shizuka, cut it out." Sasuke hissed, shooting her another warning glance. She just glared back at him, then turned and watched the Akatsuki leader laugh at her. All the while, a single thought raced through her mind that bothered her greatly. When Pain had lost amusement in her little threat, she brought up her concern.

"You've mentioned the deaths of Itachi, Hidan and Kakuzu. But yet, you don't hang Deidara's death over Sasuke, nor Sasori's over my head." She said. Sasuke looked over at her, then at Pain confused. He had been responsible for killing Itachi and Deidara. Shizuka had been responsible for killing Sasori. Yet Pain hadn't mentioned either one of them.

Again, the Akatsuki leader broke into a fit of laughter than only frustrated the teens even more.

"What the fuck is so funny you damn bastard?!" Shizuka yelled, advancing towards him, but Sasuke held his arm out in front of her, blocking her away. She glared at him, but he held her gaze, giving her a look that said 'Don't do anything stupid.'

"Sasuke, didn't you realize your brother went easy on you?" Pain asked, but he didn't wait for an answer. Instead he continued. "You couldn't kill Itachi if he had tried. So why do you think you could kill Deidara? He may be an idiot, but he is much stronger than you will ever be. You just think he's dead. As for my puppet master," He turned and looked at Shizuka. "A silly little girl like you could never kill any of my men. Yes, yes, you stabbed him through the heart. But you must remember, he's a puppet. You can't kill him that easily. He just gave you the impression he was dead."

Shizuka frowned and glared at the leader, hiding the growing fear inside her. Both of the teens knew there was no way they could beat him. The probably wouldn't even escape a fight from him alive. He had them cornered.

"So, how about you two have a rematch with some old 'friends'." Pain said.

As he finished, two cloaked figures dropped from the trees and landed next to the leader. The two teens stared at the figures they thought they had seen the last of nearly three years ago. Neither Akatsuki member wore his hat, and instead chose to expose his face with a smirk.

The long-haired blond smirked at Sasuke, his light blue eye watching the Uchiha with a wild determination for a rematch. The black-haired boy just glared at him with his gripping tightening around his katana.

Shizuka's blue eyes widened with shock for a split second, then narrowed to a glare on the red-headed man in front of her. His face remained calm and collected, obviously enjoying the thought of showing her that she hadn't the capacity to kill him.

"I think a rematch is in order." Pain said, looking at Sasori and Deidara, then to Sasuke and Shizuka.

"And what if we don't want a rematch?" Sasuke asked.

The Akatsuki leader smiled lightly in a malevolent manner. "Too bad. You won't escape without a rematch. But how about this, I'll propose a deal. If you two win, you may go on your way, floundering about like you have been, desperately trying to survive on your own. But really, I think you would be better off if you just joined us. You wouldn't have to scramble about, hiding in caves and desperately scrounging up whatever food you can. Eventually the ANBU will find you two. You'd be a lot safer in the Akatsuki. The ANBU are so oblivious to us, they still haven't found us."

"Cut it. We don't want to hear this crap." Sasuke hissed, glaring at the three Akatsuki assembled.

"Don't think you can run away from us you idiot. You're outnumbered, un." Deidara said with a sadistic grin. Sasuke just glared at him.

Shizuka's gaze wandered back and forth between the three Akatsuki members, then to her partner. She watched him for awhile, thinking of what the Akatsuki leader had said, before she turned and faced him. "If we win, you will let us go on our own way. So I'm guessing that means if we lose we have to join you."

"Very good." The leader said with a nod.

She frowned slightly and looked back at her partner again. Even as she spoke to Pain, she still watched Sasuke. "You're leaving us in a position where we have no choice. We can't run, obviously. We have to fight your men."

"Precisely. And I know you both are exhausted from your previous fight." The leader said. "It would be easier for all of us if you just joined us willingly. But obviously both of yours stubbornness won't allow you to give in that easily, will it?"

She shook her head. "We'll never join you."

Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"What a shame." Pain said. He then turned to his men. "Just don't kill them." And with that, he turned and vanished. Sasuke and Shizuka looked at each other, eyes wide with alarm, then turned to the Akatsuki members that rushed at them.


	3. If Today Was Your Last Day

_If today was your last day  
And tomorrow was too late  
Could you say goodbye to yesterday?_

Reminisce old memories

So do whatever it takes  
'Cause you can't rewind a moment in this life  
Let nothin' stand in your way  
Cause the hands of time are never on your side

_"If Today Was Your Last Day" - Nickelback_

--

She didn't exactly get the big 'Welcome home Kazumi! We missed you!' that she had expected, but looking back on it, she realized that there was no way she could have dealt with anything of that sort. She had walked through the gates back into her village, exhausted to the core. The first thing she wanted was sleep, and then she would go party with her friends or something. Sleep first. She was ready to fall over and sleep right at the gates, but she decided she would go home instead and curl up with Shikamaru. That would work.

She trudged home, all the while complaining under her breath how ridiculously long that mission had been. And for what? Half of the time had been spent going to some stupid village nobody cared about or even knew about. She hadn't even known it existed until she had been given the mission. So she had gone on the stupid friggin mission, up to the stupid friggin village. At least it was over. She couldn't wait to sleep, oh, and see her friends. That too. She had missed them.

When she got home, she immediately went to the couch. The second her head hit the pillow, she was asleep.

The next morning, she walked to the kitchen and called out to Shikamaru. When he didn't respond, she figured he was still asleep. She made herself a breakfast of cereal, than changed her clothes and raced out of the house, excited to go see her friends again. Her first stop, Nikki and Kakashi's house. She probably needed to tell her dad she was home anyways. Not to mention, they were closest.

She rang the door bell, but nobody answered. "Lazy bums..." She muttered under her breath, ringing the bell again and again. Still nobody answered. She frowned, then turned away and walked to Raidon and Neji's. They answered.

"Kazumi! You're home!" Raidon said with a surprised face.

"What? No big 'Welcome back! We missed you!' and why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" Kazumi asked, watching as Raidon's face fell. Raidon than looked down at the ground, as if she was ashamed.

"Is something wrong?" Kazumi asked, cocking her head to the side.

Raidon nodded slowly. "There's something I need to tell you..." She said slowly, looking back into the house. "Neji, I'll be back later." She called out, then walked out with Kazumi. Kazumi watched her friend, utterly confused, but found she was almost afraid to ask questions; Raidon was being way too quiet.

They passed by Lycan's house, and immediately Raidon stopped and stared at the door. Noticing her hesitation, Kazumi offered that they gather up the group since she hadn't seen everybody in a while. Raidon just nodded weakly then walked up the steps. In a moment, Lycan had joined them with a slight smile. Her smile faded as soon as she realized Kazumi still didn't know what had happened.

"You didn't tell her?!" Lycan asked, staring at Raidon with wide eyes.

"I... I..." Raidon stammered, scratching the back of her head. "I'm not sure how to... I was hoping we could go get Éclair first..."

"And Nikki." Kazumi added in. When Lycan and Raidon exchanged an uneasy glance, Kazumi knew there was a reason nobody had answered the door at Nikki's, but she didn't tell them she had stopped by. Instead the three of them walked to Éclair's. Lycan tried to make conversation, but Raidon was dead silent, and Kazumi was too confused to talk. She spent the whole time trying to figure out was they weren't telling her.

When they walked to Éclair's and Naruto's house, Kazumi ran to the door, saying she would go get Éclair. Lycan and Raidon waited by the street, whispering to each other, trying to figure out how to break the news to their friend.

"Welcome back Kazumi." Éclair said half-heartedly.

Kazumi sighed a quick thanks then frowned. She glanced over her shoulder at Raidon and Lycan before turning back to Éclair. "They're not telling me something. Did something happen while I was gone?"

Éclair's eyes widened quickly. "They didn't tell you?" She asked, and when Kazumi shook her head, Éclair started yelling at the two older girls. "Raidon! Lycan! How could you not tell her!"

"We don't know how! You tell her!" They both yelled back.

"Hell no!" Éclair snapped, glaring at them.

Raidon sighed and Lycan groaned. Meanwhile, Kazumi was glaring at the ground. Finally she snapped.

"What the hell is going on?! You guys aren't telling me shit! And where the hell is Nikki?!"

The other three girls looked at each other, not sure what to do. How could they tell her? None of them could believe it was still true. And how could they tell Kazumi? They just couldn't. But they had to.

Finally Raidon spoke. "We need to show you something." And with that, they led her to the cemetery.

"W-where are we going?" Kazumi asked, looking around with wide eyes. When it finally registered, her heart stopped and she froze mid-stride. She stared at the other girls with wide green eyes; tears were already streaming down her face. "W-who d-died?" She asked, her voice rising with panic.

Éclair bit her lip, and Raidon turned away, leaving Lycan to do the dirty work. She cocked her head to the side, in a manner that said 'follow me', then walked off towards the grave. Kazumi glanced back at Raidon and Éclair, and when they followed Lycan, she followed them.

"Here we are." Lycan said in a detached voice, that wasn't her usual spunky self. It as half there, and half gone.

When Kazumi walked to the grave, her eyes widened and she fell to her knees in front of the headstone. With a shaky hand, she touched the name engraved there, as if she could wipe it away to find it was all a cruel joke, and this was someone else's grave. But the name stayed there.

_Hatake Kakashi_

"Dad..." Her voice cracked as fresh tears streamed down her face. She buried her face in her hands and sobbed. "I'm sorry dad... I'm sorry..." She said, over and over, as if apologizing to him would bring him back.

For a while, the only sound was her sobbing and the other's girl's slight sniffles. Kazumi sat on her knees, Lycan stood in back and watched with her head slightly bowed, Raidon had sat down and was hugging her knees, but it was Clair that threw them all off. She walked over to the headstone, and rested her hand on top of it. She let out a 'hmph' sound, then shook her head.

"I'm sorry I teased you so much sensei. But really, all the time with those damn books?" She asked, laughing weakly as she wiped tears from her eyes. "And you always played favorites too. Nikki was obviously your fav, but Sasuke was a close-runner up. Nikki and I sure fixed that." She said with a slight smirk. "You two never let us live that down for shoving you guys in a closest together. It was funny though. You really though Sasuke was Nikki." Despite the tears in her eyes, she still laughed. "I thought we were gonna die when you two realized you were making out with each other."

Lycan roared with laughter. Raidon made a face, but giggled. Kazumi smiled weakly, and couldn't help laughing lightly.

"And what was it with the bell crap?" Éclair continued after she had finished laughing from the first round. "That was sick, you perv. Making us take a bell from down there. Nikki enjoyed _that_ though." She smiled weakly. "Opps, I'm being mean again, aren't I? Sorry sensei." She wiped her eyes and sighed. For awhile she didn't say anything, and instead stared blankly at the ground. Then she patted the headstone and continued. "We miss you Kakashi-sensei..."

"Yeah... You taught us a lot." Raidon said. "Even me. And I was barely even your student. Thank you." She said in barely a whisper.

"I'm glad I got to know him. It was fun harassing him and Nikki." Lycan said with a chuckle.

"You pervert. I'm sure you just gave them ideas. Pervs." Éclair said, rolling her eyes. Lycan just laughed again.

Kazumi smiled lightly. "I'm glad I found out he was my real dad. He was a good dad." She said, wiping away tears with the back of her hand. "He was the best." Again the tears rolled down her cheeks and she tried to wipe them away, but she could still taste their salty tang in her mouth.

"He was..." Éclair said. Raidon nodded in agreement.

Lycan however was frowning. "Which brings us to something else we need to tell you about. Nikki."

Kazumi's heart stopped. "Oh... she must be a wreck... Where is she?"

Raidon hugged her knees even tighter and stared off into space, not wanting to be the bringer of bad news.

"We don't know..." Éclair said, looking at Raidon than to Kazumi.

"W-what? What do you mean?" Kazumi asked, staring up at Éclair.

"She left right after the funeral. Wrote a note saying she'd be back soon, and it's been a few weeks and she still isn't back. She didn't come out of her room once before the funeral, she was so depressed. She was worse than suicidal Clair over here on her worst days." Clair shot her rambling friend a glare, than rolled her eyes, not really caring that much anymore. "Aiko and Gaara were staying with Nikki so they could attend the funeral, and Aiko said her door was always locked and she had to always leave food at the door and Nikki never ate it and--"

"Lycan!" Éclair snapped, glaring at the shape shifter.

"Huh?" Lycan asked. Éclair gestured down at Kazumi who was sobbing again, with her head in her hands. "Ohh... opps..." Lycan said nervously, regretting her rambling. "I'm sure she's fine, I mean she's so stubborn, she wouldn't give up that easily and I'm sure she's just out--"

"Lycan!" Éclair yelled again, smacking the older girl. "You're rambling again!"

Lycan just winced and rubbed her arm.

"Great... She's probably dead..." Kazumi said. "She's suicidal too you know." She said to Lycan. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Éclair, knowing that the two youngest girls of the group were the suicidal ones. The only difference was that Éclair would try to kill herself for no reason and Nikki only tried to kill herself when she was depressed or trying to protect her friends. They hadn't known for her to try to kill herself without a good excuse.

"She's not dead." Raidon said, her voice monotone.

"Let's hope so..." Kazumi added.

The four of them remained silent for a long time as they stayed in the graveyard. The wind blew slightly, ruffling their hair, adding a little life to their statue-like forms. The sky changed slowly from blue, to gray as the sun was covered in thick gray clouds.

"Looks like rain..." Raidon said, her voice still stuck in monotone, as if something would happen if she let any emotion leak into her voice.

"Let's go." Kazumi said she rose to her feet. She stared at her father's grave for a moment, before turning and walking with the others. Raidon slowly came out of her shell and returned back to her usual self. Lycan was blabbering on about being hungry and what she wanted to eat, while Éclair rolled her eyes at her friend. Soon Raidon joined into Éclair's eye rolling and tried to get Lycan to stop. After a while, all four of them were laughing and smiling. It was strained, but they were healing. Ever so slowly. They just needed the other two girls of their group; one was safe in Suna, but the other, they didn't know. However, they were determined to have the group back, one way or another. They would find Nikki. They refused to believe she was dead.


	4. Overtake you

_I know that I'm dying right now  
And it seems that I'm so far gone  
But not for long  
I'll just be strong and keep knowing  
That now I will overtake you_

"_Overtake You" – Red_

_--_

They were barely given enough time to jump out of the way. In an instant the two Akatsuki members had obliterated the spot Sasuke and Shizuka had been at only a few seconds prior. The blond and red-head exchanged a quick glance, already knowing their strategy. It was a rematch they'd been waiting a long time for, and they were both determined to win this time.

Breathing heavily, Shizuka looked over at her partner. He did not notice, instead he was watching the enemy with ruby eyes.

"We've got one advantage." Shizuka whispered as he scanned the area. He made no sign he had heard her, but she continued on anyways. "They just have to beat us, and they're not allowed to kill us. But we can kill them."

Startled, the Uchiha looked at her with wide eyes. Slowly though, he realized that was the only chance they had. They were weak and exhausted from a prior encounter with a flock of anbu. The only way they could win and avoid falling into the Akatsuki's trap was to kill Deidara and Sasori. Sasuke nodded in agreement.

"I'll handle the puppet, you get Blondy." Shizuka said. Without giving him time to object, she got up and ran off in another direction. Sasuke turned to face his own enemy.

-

Behind him, an explosion went off, and he knew Sasuke had already started a brawl with Deidara. Sasori noted his partner's attack, but paid no heed and kept his attention on his shadow. He knew her fighting style and knew he was at a disadvantage; his shadow was long. She'd be able to catch in it a heartbeat if he let his guard down.

Pulling a summoning scroll from his back, he brought out his favorite puppet, Hiruko. Light brown eyes darted back and forth in search of the girl, yet he never saw it coming until the kunai had struck his puppet in the forehead. And then it exploded. As he was thrown back by the force of the explosion, he thought he saw movement from the corner of his eye. However, when he looked, it was just a shadow.

His eyes widened in alarm as he pulled himself up. The shadow was advancing towards him. And it wasn't glued to the ground; it was three-dimensional. The shadow had a human-like figure. Squinting his eyes, Sasori watched as the faintest outline of what appeared to be a fist hovered towards him. In the next instant, that fist was slammed into his face, throwing him back against a tree. It wasn't just a shadow; _she was a shadow._

"Very impressive." He said, his voice hoarse as he brushed his fingers against his cheek. There was a crack in the material of his face. With a frown he dropped his hand to the side and looked around for the shadow again. A shift of the light showed her outline and in a flash, blue chakra strings burst from his finger tips and attached to Hiruko. The giant tail swung around and made contact with the shadow-girl. Her jutsu flickered momentarily, showing her true self as the tail slammed her hard into a tree than held her there. She grunted in pain and her shadow slithered back to her feet, living her visible and pinned to the tree. Her dark blue eyes glared intensely at the puppet master as she pressed her palms to the tree, trying to push away. However the sheer strength of the puppet's tail held her fast to the tree, leaving her back exposed to the enemy.

"That was impressive, but not enough to beat me." The puppet master said, emotionless as usual. "I've learned new tricks too." With a twitch of his forefinger, his puppet's jaw dropped, exposing the mini cannon, poison darts at the ready.

A large explosion shook the ground, causing the puppeteer to lose his balance and stagger on his feet. He glared in the direction of the explosion, cursing his stupid partner. He turned back to the tree and his eyes widened. The girl was gone.

"Damnit Deidara." Sasori hissed, looking around for the Nara girl. A quick movement caught his gaze and his eyes immediately flickered to the ground. His shadow remained untouched. So what was that movement? Not wanting to risk anything, his hands shot out in front of him, his palms outward. Flames burst out from his hands. Immediately, a black smoke billowed from the burning trees into the cooling night air. When he looked around again, all he saw were flames and shadows. Shadows dancing everywhere. His own shadow had lengthened tremendously from the light of the fire. He cursed himself under his breath. He'd just given her the upper-hand. That is, if she had survived the flames.

But she was nowhere to be seen.

-

Sasuke's eyes quickly shot up to the sky, then back at Deidara. The forest was alive with fire and explosions. His own fireball jutsu had burned a portion of the forest, than add Deidara's explosions and what must have been Sasori's flame throwing hands. An image flashed through his mind; Shizuka burnt to a crisp as her little brother and twin sister had been over a decade prior. Quickly, Sasuke shook away the thought. She's fine. He was sure of it.

_She had to be fine._

With a few quick hand seals, Sasuke held his fingers close to his lips and breathed out with all his might. Fire exploded from his lips and shot out like a jet stream at the blond Akatsuki. Another section of trees set up in flames.

When the jet stream ended, he coughed out puffs of smoke. His chest rose and fell rapidly, his breath coming out in an open-mouthed pant. Their second battle in one day. He was going to run out of chakra. But they couldn't lose. He would not wind up stuck in the same situation as his older brother.

_Niisan__**, **_he thought as he looked around for the Akatsuki member. _I won't be drawn into this. I won't let Madara have the chance to touch me._

With his unusual quickness, he turned and ran to find his partner after making sure Deidara was nowhere in sight. He'd kill the blond later; his main concern was his partner.

-

"Damn Uchiha." Deidara coughed out, waving away smoke with his hand. When his vision finally cleared, he looked around, his eyebrows raised in slight confusion. The Uchiha was nowhere to be seen. He must have fled. Adjusting the scope over his left eye, Deidara looked around again. He didn't see Sasuke, but he did see the girl, sneaking up on Sasori's puppet.

"Danna, behind you!" Deidara yelled.

Sasori turned and watched with alarm as a long shadowy cord wrapped around his prized puppet. With a loud grunt, the Nara lifted the puppet with her shadow and flung it into the fire. As soon ad the puppet was air borne and smoldering in the flame, she collapse onto all fours and coughed violently.

Immediately the puppeteer set to work setting out the flames, desperately trying to save his 'armor'. Infuriated, Sasori wished he could kill the girl. He wanted nothing more than to make her into on of his puppets. But Leader-sama had specifically told him and his partner they could not kill the Uchiha and the Nara. It was going to drive Sasori insane. They were trained to kill, not to spare lives. All he would need would be to poison her and let his imbecile partner blow up the Uchiha. Unfortunately for them, that wasn't the case.

"Deidara, grab her!" He yelled over his shoulder to his dumb-founded partner.

Deidara nodded than turned to Shizuka, who was now red in the face from the smoke and - unknown to the Akatsuki members - her damaged lungs. Her throat and chest burned and crippled her as she struggled for breath. Taking the chance, Deidara ran over and reached out to grab her, but in the blink of an eye, the young Uchiha was in front of him, standing protectively over the girl.

"Chidori!" The black-haired young man yelled. His hand was engulfed in a mass of lightning that screamed like a flock of birds. He thrusted the justu forward at Deidara, but the blond had jumped away, last minute. While his opponent's jutsu was still hot, Deidara produced his own; a little clay bird that flew directly into the Chidori, than exploded.

The impact of the blindingly bright explosion sent them all flying.

"Deidara! You idiot!" Sasori snapped, all of his patience now long gone. He grabbed his partner's arm and yanked him to his feet. Deidara stumbled groggily, still dazed from the explosion. He blinked his light blue eyes a few times before he finally regained his coordination. When he turned to his partner, he smiled sheepishly, knowing he was in trouble. Faying innocent he opened his mouth to explain himself, but the red-head would not have it.

"Go find them! Now!" Sasori yelled, ready to kill not only Shizuka and Sasuke, but now Deidara as well.

"Sorry Danna!" Deidara said hurriedly before running off in search of the young ninjas. With a frustrated sigh, Sasori followed.

-

With a grunt, Sasuke forced himself to sit up. Even the strain of that was excruciating. Groaning, he tried to clutch his stomach, but an agonizing pain ripped through his arm. He swore under his breath than looked around. He didn't even have the chakra to use his Sharingan.

"Shizuka?" He called out in alarm when he couldn't find her. Weakly and slowly, he got to his feet and called out again. In response, a weak cough sounded to his right. He hobbled his way over and found her lying on her side in the grass, as if she was passed out. He kneeled down next to her and shook her shoulder softly. When she turned head, he noticed a trail of crimson running from the corner of her mouth, down her chin. His eyes widened with alarm and immediately she wiped the blood away.

"It's nothing. I'm fine." Her voice came out dry and crackled. She sounded anything but fine. None the less, he helped her up to her feet. She swayed for a moment and held his arm for support, waiting for her strength to return. Her head pounded and her body ached. She was starting to believe they were going to lose.

"Better?" Sasuke asked.

She just nodded, too preoccupied with watching for the Akatsuki duo to respond properly. Noticing her alertness, Sasuke looked around as well, but with eyes of coal instead of rubies. For awhile, neither saw a thing. _Maybe we won,_ Sasuke started to think. The explosion could have been enough to knock somebody out. Than again, if they had survived it themselves, he was pretty sure the Akatsuki had too. The Akatsuki was still as the advantage; the teens were exhausted.

"Shi! Behind you!" Sasuke yelled. He quickly pulled her out of the way, barely avoiding a storm of poison darts. Fists clenched, he glared in the direction of the puppet, but remained hidden with Shizuka in the trees. They exchanged a quick glance; his black eyes angered, her blue eyes showing defeat.

"We can still win. Don't give up!" He hissed, gripping her shoulders. She didn't say anything, just stared at him. When her gaze flickered down to the ground and her brows lowered, he sighed with relief. She was thinking. She would think of some way to escape. They could still win.

Neither one saw it coming. From the tress, a giant clay bird disrupted their silence and swooped down, dangerously close. Then teens jumped to their feet, but by then a pair of hands had emerged from the bird's back and grabbed Shizuka. She screamed as Deidara dragged her onto the bird and flew off, not stopping once throughout the whole process. He'd gotten her in one swift movement.

"Shizuka!" Sasuke yelled. He started to run, thinking of some way to get her back from the blond when a sharp pain shot through his neck. His hand flew there, and he realized he was touching the exact spot his curse mark had been before his brother had removed it. _So why is it hurting like the curse?_ Then it struck him. His curse was back. Slowly the tattoo-like design spread its way across his arm, his face, his body. The intricate design took over his body until his skin was dark from the second stage. A tremor ran down his spine as the hand-like wings sprouted from his back and stretched themselves out. He looked down at his hands in confusion, than smirked, feeling a wave of energy course through his body. Falling back into his old ways, as if it hadn't been roughly a year since he had used this form, he flew into the air after the clay bird.

-

Looking over the side of the bird, Deidara scanned the area for the Uchiha threat. On top of the bird, Shizuka was bound at the ankles and her wrists were tied behind her back. Wiggling and squirming around, she swore and screamed, but it didn't faze Deidara. He was waiting for Sasuke and Sasori.

A low flapping sound came from behind him. His body stiffened than he spun around and glared at the monster that held his captive. He couldn't forget the last time he had seen the bizarre winged creature. His fight with Sasuke, where everything thought he had died. The winged Uchiha flew back away from the bird as Deidara lunged for him. Quickly, Deidara grabbed his clay and started making bombs as Sasuke flew off with Shizuka towards the ground. Unaware to them, the clay bombs followed their descent.

When they reached the ground, Sasuke set to work untying Shizuka, ignoring the pain that throbbed in his arm. As soon as she was untied, he got up and spread his wings, ready to go after Deidara again. But when he turned to the sky, he saw the clay bombs advancing fast. His first thought was to turn and push Shizuka out of the way, but he realized she would still be affected by the blast. There were too many bombs. However, he didn't have time to think over his options. The bombs had changed direction and they were headed straight towards Shizuka, who had left Sasuke's side when he wasn't looking.

Again, his mind flashed to the image of her burnt to a crisp, this time though, she was in a million pieces; blown to smithereens. Deidara was going to kill her.

"No!" He yelled, running desperately to get her.

-

Hearing the scream, Shizuka turned and saw the incoming bombs. Her eyes widened in alarm, for they were nearly on her. He was going to kill her. She was going to die. Surprisingly, the thought didn't scare her. It comforted her. She wasn't afraid to die. It just meant she would be with Kakashi. Her body relaxed and she closed her eyes, bracing herself for the end.

Instead of being ripped to pieces, she felt strong arms wrap around her protectively and the ground shook beneath her. The vibration shook her whole body. Even with her eyes closed, it was still blindingly bright. The sound of the explosion roared in her ears and deafened her. Everything hinted that the world around her was in utter chaos, but besides from the shaking ground, she didn't feel it. She wasn't being blown to pieces. When the intense white lights died down and everything appeared black behind her lids, she slowly opened her eyes. Holding her protectively was a trembling Sasuke. His eyes were closed tight and he was biting his lip so hard trails of blood rolled from his purple lips. His strong arms held her tightly against his bare chest to the point that she could barely move. She did manage, however, to use her peripheral vision to see why the explosion hadn't gotten her. A pair of large hands had shielded her from the blast. Sasuke had encased her, using his own body as protection. He had taken the full force of the explosion.

Her eyes widened and she said his name, her voice barely above a whisper. When he didn't respond, she tried again, louder this time.

"S-Sasuke?"

His eyes slowly opened and rested on her. She was staring up at him, her eyes betraying a mixture of worry and sheer horror. Purple lips parted, he started to speak, but cringed instead as pain ripped through his entire body. There was a sharp intake of breath and a grunt form the Uchiha and Shizuka knew they had lost.

With a groan, his wings receded and disappeared into his back. His skin faded back to its usual pale color. His hair darkened from purple to black. In almost an instant, he was himself again, but now drained completely of energy. On his knees, he coughed up blood onto the ground.

Shizuka watched with wide eyes than clenched her fists. In a movement as fast as lightning, she hurled a kunai with an explosive tag at Deidara. It landed at his feet and exploded. She didn't even watch to see if she had been successful in her attempt at blowing him to pieces.

"Sasuke? Are you okay? She asked, watching him carefully. His breathing was heavy, too heavy for him to talk.

"Forget trying to kill them, we're getting out of here." She said as she slung his arm over her shoulders. She than wrapped her own arm around his waist and proceeded to limp away, desperately.

They'd only managed to get a few yards away, when Shizuka collapsed into a coughing fit. She had to lean against a tree as the violent spasm shook her body. Sasuke could only watch, terrified, as she coughed up blood. He held her long hair back as she sat on all fours, coughing onto the ground. When she was done, her breathing was strained, but so was his. They looked at each other, the hopelessness reflected in each other's eyes.

"I don't want to be in the Akatsuki..." Shizuka said weakly.

"Me neither... Not after Niisan..." Sasuke looked away as he spoke.

"We either escape or die trying."

Sasuke looked back at Shizuka at the possibility of dieing. He watched her for any sign that she regretted the idea, but her stare was dead-serious. She was willing to die.

"I prefer escaping alive." He said bitterly.

"And I prefer not being stuck in that hell hole. 'Specially if it means being stuck with those two assholes."

He couldn't agree more.

"Then let's get the hell out of here."

Shizuka pulled herself up to her feet with an exhausted groan. She knew they didn't have much time. Sasori and Deidara were going to be here soon. She extended her hand to help Sasuke up when a sharp pain shot through her leg. She gasped at the force of it, than swayed on her feet. Her vision blurred, than faded to black and she collapsed, face down, into the ground.

Sasuke watched with widened eyes as she collapsed onto the ground before him. He reached out to her but recoiled immediately as pain throbbed through him. With a grimace, he looked her over and saw the poison dart protruding from her thigh. When he looked up, Sasori and Deidara were only a few feet away. Sasori's expression - or therefore lack of - did not betray the fact that he had poisoned Shi; it was the chakra strings and his puppet-armor. His partner just smirked, the smug look screaming 'Ha! Loser!'.

All Sasuke could do was glare at them before he collapsed onto the ground. They had lost. They were going to be stuck in the Akatsuki.

_I'm sorry Shi._ Than everything went black.


	5. Tourniquet

_Do you remember me?  
Lost for so long.  
Will you be on the other side,  
Or will you forget me?_

_"Tourniquet" - Evanescence_

--

Their first plan of action was to find out as much information about the murder as they could. Unfortunately, the only witness had fallen off the face of the Earth - they refused to think her dead. And unless they somehow found her - she refused to be found - they had no eye witness. So, they moved to Tsunade's files on the mission Kakashi and Shizuka had taken. Being ANBU members, Eclair and Aiko didn't have a hard time sneaking out files. Hopefully they could find some sort of clue in Tsunade's records.

Laying down a stack of papers, Eclair and Aiko let out a groan as the stack made a loud 'thud' against the wooden table. Both then flopped onto the ground, not at all amused with Tsunade's organization skills and how much work it took to even scrounge up what they had.

"Dang! Is this all on the mission?" Lycan asked, poking her finger into the tower and looking it up and down.

"Not even! Are you kidding me?!" Eclair snapped.

With a sigh, Raidon peeled out the first few sheets and starting scanning through them with her Sharingan. Speed-reading with an added bonus.

"No." Aiko said. "Some of it is details of the mission, another portion is recent criminal activity in Konoha, recent activity within a five mile radius of Konoha as well as a list of criminals from whatever tiny town it is that they had to go to for that mission."

"As well as the autopsy reports on Sensei's body so we can compare how he was... killed to these criminals' methods." Eclair added. She never wanted to do that much work again, especially about her sensei's death.

"Oh crap..." Lycan said, staring down at the pile.

"This might take awhile" Kazumi frowned as she spoke, not looking forward to reading the gory details of how her father was killed. She didn't want to do al the work; there had to be an easier way to find out who was the murderer. "Can't we just go look for Nikki again?"

"We could try, but..." Raidon started.

"But she does not want to be found and it would just be a waste of time." Clair said half-heartedly with a shrug.

"She likes to disappear. She'll be back." Aiko said, trying to bring a little enthusiasm to the ground. However, her attempt was fruitless.

Always the pessimist, Eclair chimed in; "Oh yeah, she'll just pop out of nowhere with a big smile and act like the love of her life wasn't just murdered before her eyes." The harsh tone of her voice and the well-practiced sarcasm only made the truth more unbearable for the others.

A long silence stretched as two pairs of Sharingan eyes flipped through pages of papers. Lycan aided as she could, depositing worthless papers into files, and eventually Aiko and Clair set into the investigation as well. Time flew by and they resorted to turning the lights on as the day faded to night. Hours passed. Few words were spoken. Almost nothing was discovered. The little they had wasn't pleasant. From the autopsy, they learned that he had been stabbed repeatedly and had probably bled to death. The autopsy also showed that a struggle had occurred, so he hadn't gone down without a fight. Still, it worried them that there was a threat out there that had the strength to kill Kakashi. That is, if the enemy had made it out of the fight alive. They all secretly wished he hadn't, but they all had the same gut feeling he was still alive. It was probably why Nikki disappeared; to avenge Kakashi's death.

Their idea of comparing cause-of-death to criminals' styles of murder didn't work because they knew in a struggle, anybody would have tried to simply stab their enemy. Easy way to end a fight without wasting chakra. So, they eliminated the comparison process and instead looked at the criminal records for any sign of recent activity or even any criminals having been in the area as of late. Nothing. They were running out of options.

By the time they went through the whole stack, they were all worn out. Quite a few hours had passed; more than they thought necessary or _healthy _for that matter. When the last file was closed, a loud groan erupted throughout them in unison. Konoha's records had almost nothing on the murder of Hatake Kakashi. They had no leads as to who killed him. It was a wild goose chase. Now all they could really do was hunt down their runaway friend, but they knew nothing of her whereabouts. They didn't even know if she was alive or not. They were barely hanging onto a tiny thread of hope that she hadn't committed suicide, that she hadn't been killed in an attempt to avenger her lover. The thread was slowly breaking. If she was gone, then there was no chance of finding out who had killed Kakashi. All they could do was hold onto that tiny thread for dear life.


	6. Welcome to the Jungle

_Welcome to the jungle  
We take it day by day  
If you want it you're gonna bleed  
But it's the price you pay  
And you're a very sexy girl  
That's very hard to please  
You can taste the bright lights  
But you won't get them for free  
In the jungle  
Welcome to the jungle  
Feel my, my, my serpentine  
I, I wanna hear you scream_

_"Welcome To The Jungle" - Guns N' Roses_

--

Gently caressing his valued 'armor', the Akatsuki's puppet was deep in the repair of his favorite puppet. This was the second time that stupid shadow girl had wrecked it to pieces. He was still annoyed that Leader-sama even wanted her in the Akatsuki, but like every other member, he didn't dare speak against the leader. Instead, he tried to ignore her like he did every other member; even his obnoxious partner, Deidara. But, that was how it went in the Akatsuki. The only people that had ever gotten along had been Itachi and Kisame. Every other set of partners basically had hated each other to death. Hidan and Kakuzu had been the worst. However, Sasori had had his fair share of bad partners. Orochimaru was the worst out there, and the puppet master couldn't begin to explain how much he hated the snake. Deidara wasn't nearly as bad, but he was a reckless, obnoxious kid. Not to mention the blond had some weird respect for his older partner; a fellow artist, even if they had completely different views on what was truly a work of art. None the less, Deidara had enough respect to call Sasori, 'Danna'.

Patience running thin, the red-head frowned as he tried to work the mechanisms of the puppet's arm. It was completely busted. He muttered under his breath, and gave up to work on another part of the intricate doll.

A shadow loomed over him suddenly, but being as calm as he always was, his brown gaze barely flickered over to the intruder before going back down to his work. Watching over his shoulder was the young Nara girl, clad in her new Akatsuki cloak. Already she fit the part; the cloak flowed gracefully down from her shoulders, clinging to her womanly curves. Her long reddish-brown hair cascaded down her torso and brushed Sasori's shoulders as she leaned over, trying to get a better view.

"What?" He asked nonchalantly, not even looking at her.

"Just watching." She said with a shrug.

A frown crossed his features. He was already in a bad mood. He didn't need her breathing down his neck.

"Please leave."

One delicate eyebrow suddenly arched high above her lid in amusement at his attempt to be politely rude. "But I've got nothing else to do, so I figured I would visit the reason I'm stuck in this hell hole."

He scowled and without even concealing it, moved away, putting distance between them. He then went back to his work as if nothing had happened.

"Look puppet," She said, nearly spitting out the word 'puppet'. "I don't care if you think I'm a pain in your ass, but it's your damn fault I'm here, so the least you could do is pretend you're not all the asshole I've made you out to be."

He said nothing in response.

Determined, she stepped towards him again. This time however, she said nothing. Only watched with utter fascination. For awhile, he ignored her and continued on, hoping she would grow bored and leave. But she didn't. Finally, he snapped.

"What do you want?"

Smiling with triumph, she straightened herself up and crossed her arms over her chest. "Teach me."

He looked at her, completely confused, but she didn't waver. "What?"

"Teach me." She said again, but this time she gestured to the puppet in his hands.

He glanced down at his puppet, as if he had forgotten he was even holding it, than looked up at her. She was dead serious.

"And why would I teach you how to be a puppeteer?" He asked coolly.

"One," She said, holding up her index finger. "I figure it's the lease you could do, being that you've forced me into this. I thought of it as a generous repayment of some sort." All the while she had on a smile as fake as Tsunade's young appearance. In a split second however, the phony smile was dropped and she become serious. "And, I might decide to tell my partner he's not allowed to kill you and your partner. He's huge on revenge. And honestly, I wouldn't mind a little myself."

Pondering this, he looked her up and down, then back at his puppet. "Smart girl. You make interesting arguments." He said, amused. "But of everything you could learn, why puppetry?"

"Simple," She said with a shrug. "We both use our jutsus for control. One difference is that the control of my shadow only works to a certain extent. Chakra strings are almost limitless. They're very similar though and I could probably use my shadow a bit."

A twinkle in his puppet eyes, and a slight upward curve of his lips told her she had convinced him well. She hadn't been confident in her ability to persuade people, especially people she did not get along with, so she was quite proud of her self for the success.

"Alright," He said with a slow nod. She broke into a grin. She was going to learn how to be a puppeteer. At least she had something to look forward to in this stupid Akatsuki organization.

"However," He quickly added in, crushing her happiness. "Because you will be under my teaching, I make the rules, so you have to do as I say."

"Obviously," She jabbed, shrugging it off.

"Which means getting up bright and early for training." He said with a smirk. Her face fell. "And I don't like to be kept waiting. Not to mention, you will do all the exercises I tell you to, despite how 'troublesome' they may seem."

Although he was having a good time with his little lecture, she was not amused. He was determined to make her training a living hell, but she was determined not to loose to him again.

"Think you can handle it?" He asked with a smirk.

"Hell yeah." She said confidently.

"Don't get cocky. I doubt you'd last a year under my training."

"You wanna bet?" She snapped.

"Yes. Let's bet." His smirk only widened at the joyous thought.

"Alright, if I last a year under your training, you have to personally make me a puppet." She said.

"Deal, and if you can't survive a year," He paused for a moment to think, "Well, that'd be humiliating enough, now wouldn't it?"

Annoyed by the truth in it, she glared at him. He just smirked, knowing he had gotten back at her. Rolling her eyes, she turned to leave and he went back to his work, but she stopped, remembering something.

"Oh, Sasori?"

"Hmm?" He mumbled, glancing up at her.

"Two things." She said. "One, don't call me Nikki. I'm gonna use my real name, Shizuka." He nodded and she continued. "And for everyone outside of the Akatsuki, I'm going to tell them I joined willingly."

This perplexed him. "Why?"

"So it makes it sound less like I would return to Konoha the second I got the chance. I don't ever want to go back there."

---

Her breath came in ragged gasps as he stood over her, a sword pointed at her neck. She glared at him as she panted heavily; he just stared down at her, disappointed.

"Shizuka, you're making this too easy." He said.

"Well it's not... my damn fault... you don't... have... fucked up... human lungs... dragging you down." She said, constantly stopping to take another sharp, painful sounding breath. Each intake was a quick gasp and each exhale was more of a groan than a breath.

"You wouldn't let somebody kill you this easily, would you?" He asked, turning the blade so sunlight reflected off of it, down onto her.

She ground her teeth together, than, as fast as she could, preformed the hand seals needed to bring her shadow to life. The inky form shot upward and grasped the sword away from Sasori, giving Shizuka enough time to get up and ram her fist into his stomach, sending him flying back. She grabbed the sword from her shadow as it retreated back to her feet, and she advanced towards her fallen sensei. Quickly, she pressed the tip of the sword to his chest and now she was the one standing over him. She watched him as her breath came out painfully and her lungs screamed for air.

"Much better." Sasori said coolly.

With a grunt, she tossed the sword to the side and fell over on her back.

He sat up and watched with a cringe as each gasp tried to pass itself off for a breath. They'd been training for six months now and her breathing hadn't improved. It'd only gotten worse. She rolled onto her side, turning her back to him, and started coughing. The coughs had the force of a smoker's cough - due to hours stuck alone in a burning building when she was six - and her whole body trembled with the force of it. He frowned, knowing what he would also see, had she not turned away from him. It always happened this way. She thought she could hide it from him, but he knew why she always kept her fists clenched after they trained hard like this; so he wouldn't see the blood strains on her palms. She used to cough into the sleeves of her cloak so he wouldn't noticed the red stains, but he forced her to stop wearing the cloak during training after one day she didn't wipe all the blood from her lips. He always tried to stop her when it got that far, but she refused to stop. She continued training even after she coughed up blood.

This time was different. He got up and walked over to her as she coughed into her hands. Than, kneeling down next to her, he grabbed her wrists and pulled her hands away from her mouth, exposing the blood on her lips and hands. For a while, they just glared at each other.

"Why do you think you can hide this from me?" He snapped, shaking her wrists.

"Because it's not a big deal!" She snapped back, yanking her hands away from him. She than wiped her lips with the back of her hand.

"It is a big deal!" He yelled. "Coughing up blood isn't normal! You think I'm going to sit around and act like it's nothing?"

"You have!" She said harshly. "And I'm not dead, so it's not a big fucking deal!"

He frowned and stared down at her as she glared back up at him and caught her breath. Than with a sigh, he held out a hand for her, and when she took it, he helped her up. She wobbled on her feet a little, and nearly fell over again, had he not pulled her arm over his shoulder and wrapped his own arm around her waist. She grumbled something about taking care of herself, but he ignored it. She was always complaining about something. He helped her back into base, than to her room. When he opened the door, Sasuke and Leader-sama looked over at him.

"Sasori, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The leader said as Sasori and Shi untangled themselves. Sasori bowed his head to his leader, than smiled lightly at his student. Than he was gone.

Shi walked into the room she shared with Sasuke, than closed the door.

The orange-haired leader looked at the two youngest members than spoke; "I have a mission for you two."


	7. Enjoy the Silence

_Vows are spoken to be broken  
Feelings are intense, words are trivial  
Pleasures remain, so does their pain  
Words are meaningless and forgettable_

_"Enjoy the Silence" - Depeche Mode_

--

He was having what was arguably one of the best dreams ever. His ultimate fantasy. He was Hokage, Kyuubi-free, with the beautiful, love-of-his-life Clair at his side. Sadly, it was shattered by some sound coming from the land of consciousness. With a groan, he unwillingly opened his eyes and looked around. Nothing. He'd woken up for nothing. Annoyed, he closed his eyes.

Again, a scattering sound.

This time, his eyes flew open and he sat up. He looked around, at first thinking Clair had gotten up, but when he looked down at her, she was asleep next to him. Completely confused, he watched her for awhile, but she was sound asleep. His light blue eyes swept across the rest of the room, but he didn't see anything.

He was about to lay back down again when he heard footsteps. Now, on the edge of being paranoid, he looked around again. This time he saw a flicker of movement under the door. Just a shadow. Than it was gone.

He climbed out of bed, careful not to wake Clair, than tiptoed over to the door. As quietly and carefully as he could, he opened the door and peeked his head out just in time to see the shadow of someone running down the hall.

_What the hell?_ He thought as he followed the figure. Sneaking around his own house, he ended up in the kitchen. When he looked around, all he saw was his kitchen in the moonlight. He scratched the back of his head, running his fingers through his blond hair. Was he seeing things? No, he was positive. It hadn't been a trick of the light. He'd heard something, and he had definitely seen someone's shadow run down the hall. He'd even followed the shadow right into the kitchen. But the kitchen was empty.

Freaking out, he spun around; his eyes dancing wildly through the room, checking every possible place a human could hide.

From the corner of his eye, he saw a movement in the shadows. Quickly, he turned and opened his mouth to shout, when a shadowy hand shot forward and clamped over his mouth.

"Shh. Wouldn't want to wake Clair, now would we?" A familiar female voice whispered. His eyes widened, trying to find her, but all he could see was shadows.

Suddenly, a tight grip had pulled his hands behind his back and he felt a tight rope being tied around his wrists. A pair of hardened, rough hands over his wrists and a slender, delicate hand was over his lips. He watched with sheer horror as another shadowy hand formed, with a sack. Than the sack was pulled over his head, and he was blinded. Without her hand on his mouth now, he took a sharp intake of breath, but a searing pain shot through the back of his head. He staggered on his feet before collapsing onto the ground, out cold.

"Sorry Naruto." A gruff voice said. He than picked up the unconscious teen and fled with the shadow girl.

-

When Éclair woke up the next morning, she turned on her side too see if her boyfriend was still asleep. But when she opened her purple eyes, he wasn't there.

Figuring he had gotten up before her, she stretched than got out of bed. She walked to the bathroom and looked for Naruto there, but didn't find him. So, she went to the kitchen instead. He wasn't there either. With a frown, she checked the rest of the house, calling his name. But he was nowhere in the house.

_Odd,_ she though, looking at the clock. Seven forty-six. Too early to go over to a friends'. Besides, he would've told her if he was leaving. He never just vanished without giving her some warning.

Just to make sure, she called all of his friends; Kiba, Gaara, even Shikamaru, Neji and Chouji. Anyone. Everyone. Nobody had heard from him.

Frowning, she dressed as quickly as she could, than ran to the Hokage Tower. She passed Jake and John on the way and asked them, but they hadn't seen Naruto either.

Her heart dropped.

"I'm sure Tsunade just sent him on a mission." John said, trying to reassure her.

"How do you know?!" She snapped, causing him to flinch.

"That knucklehead probably got himself in trouble somehow." Jake said nonchalantly. Clair just glared at him, annoyed than Jake took every chance he could to beat on Naruto.

She punched his shoulder, than ran straight into Tsunade's room, not even bothering to knock.

"Éclair? What in the world is going on?"

"Did you send Naruto on a mission?" Éclair demanded.

"No." The Hokage said, watching Clair. "Why?"

"Great. Just great." Éclair grumbled. "Nobody knows where he is. He just vanished out of thin air."

"What?!" The Hokage asked, her gold eyes wide.

"Nobody. Knows. Where. He. IS!" Éclair snapped as if it wasn't the Hokage she was talking to.

Tsunade frowned and watched the young ANBU through narrowed eyes, than asked for an explanation. So, Clair told her how Naruto hadn't been at home this morning. At first she had thought nothing of it until she realized he hadn't even left a note or anything. That's when Clair had then gone and checked the training fields by their house. He hadn't been there either. So than she called up a bunch of his friends, but nobody had heard from him.

"He's not in Konoha." Clair concluded. "My guess is some baddies – Akatsuki! – got through the lousy excuse of ANBU security and just plucked him up than went on their merry way to kill him."

Tsunade looked at Clair with a frown. She hated how Clair was probably right. Akatsuki had been after Naruto for almost six years now. She had just hoped they would've been able to keep him safe from the Akatsuki for the rest of his life.

"Alright, how about this," The Hokage started, "Take your team or whoever you want and go scout around. I'll leave your team in charge of finding him." _Even though your team's already in charge of his safety, _she wanted to add, but she figured there was no need to add more salt to the wound.

Éclair just nodded than stormed out. Jake and John looked up at her as she walked out.

"So?"

"What happened?"

"We're going to find Naruto." She said as she walked out of the Hokage tower, with them on her heels. John just frowned but Jake groaned. Yes, it was his job, but he didn't like it.

She ignored him though and thought over who else she could bring along – she knew the obvious – Lycan, Kazumi, Aiko and Raidon – but she didn't want to listen to Rae's bitching about ANBU. She decided she'd just smack Raidon with a cold pizza if the Uchiha even opened her mouth. If Raidon had a problem with Jake and John, Éclair didn't care, she just wanted to get this over with. She was pretty sure they were going to bring Naruto's dead body back to Konoha.


	8. Going Under

_I'm dying again, I'm going under  
Drowning in you, I'm falling forever  
I've got to break through, I'm going under  
Going under, I'm going under_

"_Going Under" – Evanescence_

--

When he woke, his head pounded and spun, as it would after too many drinks. Even behind closed lids, the light was blinding. His body ached, but at the same time was extremely stiff. His first intention was to rub the sleep from his eyes and try to remember what had happened, but his arms wouldn't obey. They were tied behind his back, cutting off the circulation to his hands.

Immediately, his eyes flew open as the previous night came rushing back to him all at once. He'd been abducted. A small part of him wasn't surprised. Ever since he was little, people had hated him for the curse he carried around. However, it wasn't until he was twelve that he had been targeted by an organized group. Six years, he had been hiding and barely dodging that group. He hated it, but found it wasn't hard to accept that Akatsuki had finally captured him.

But he had expected it to be Uchiha Itachi and Hoshigaki Kisame that would drag him away. He never expected to open his eyes and see the two people that were there. Not them. Anybody but them.

His former teammates, Uchiha Sasuke and Nara Shizuka (though to her friends, she was still Nara Nikki), were dressed in the Akatsuki cloaks, huddled over a fire. Ignoring him. He stared at them for a while, his blue eyes wide. He had to be seeing things! He blinked his eyes a few times, trying to blink away the image, but when he looked again, they were still there.

Sasuke was the first to notice they were being stared at. His gaze flickered over to Naruto, than back down at the fire.

"It's not polite to stare."

Thinking he had spoken to her, Shizuka looked up at Sasuke, but he wasn't looking at her. He was staring at the fire. She turned and looked at Naruto, and saw him staring back. They stared at each other for a while, in silence until Naruto exploded.

"What the hell is going on?! You're **both** Akatsuki?!"

Shi sighed and turned away as he raged on, yelling and screaming. He was still a loud mouth. _Shocker_, she thought, poking at the flames with a stick.

"Shut it you idiot." Sasuke said dully, glaring at Naruto.

The blond immediately became quiet. Than his face hardened and he glared back at the ruby eyes. They stayed that way for a long time, just glaring.

"No point in glaring at each other." Shizuka said half-heartedly, not looking up from the fire.

"I'll glare if I want to glare!" Naruto snapped, the annoyance never leaving his voice. He turned his glare on Shizuka, but she wasn't paying attention. Her gaze was cast down at the flickering flames, but she wasn't even paying attention to that. Still, he glared at her for a while, out of habit. They had always bickered and fought as teammates, but never to his wildest dreams had he imagined to find himself in this situation. They intended to kill him.

A shiver ran down his spine. Sasuke and Shi were Akatsuki. They'd been sent to capture him. They were going to take part in extracting Kyuubi from him. They were going to kill him. He hadn't thought about being captured by Akatsuki since he'd heard that Sasuke had killed Itachi. Naruto had always associated 'being captured' with the older Uchiha. He knew the blue-fish-guy was still alive, but it had always been Itachi that had chased him and tried to capture him. When Itachi died, the Akatsuki had seemed to back off. Only now did Naruto realize he was dead wrong. The Akatsuki was still after him. The Akatsuki had caught him.

"Whatever. You might as well get your glaring out now." Sasuke said with a shrug. "In fact, get everything out now while you still can."

Teeth grinding and lips pulling back in a snarl, a tremor of anger ran through him. His teammate, his rival, his best friend; Sasuke was only shoving into Naruto's face the fact that he was going to die. And Sasuke didn't even seem to care!

_Let me help you_. A deep voice rumbled as Naruto looked around the sewer-like area. Behind the gates, a pair of red eyes and sparkling white teeth smirked at him. _We'll show them not to mess with us._

But Naruto only stared at the demon.

Angered, he continued; _They'll kill you if you don't do anything. Let me out! I'll show them not to mess with us!_ A low cackle followed.

"No." Naruto said, watching the fox.

_You fool! You're going to get us killed! I'll teach them._

His blue eyes changed to a menacing red and his whisker marks thickened as the Kyuubi's chakra rushed through him.

"Is this how you treat friends?!" He snapped, Kyuubi already affecting his personality. "And if you think I'm just going to sit around and let you do this, you're both stupid!"

Already, Sasuke had his hand on the hilt of his katana, and his Sharingan watched Naruto's every move. But Shizuka didn't even glance the other way. She was calm and collected.

A growl rose deep in Naruto's throat as he bared his enlarged canines to the Akatsuki members. A faint red glow surrounded his body and pulsed with power. His red eyes wandered back and forth between the two, before finally settling on Sasuke, who was poised for a fight. With Kyuubi's chakra having burned away the ropes that bound him, Naruto crouched on all fours, ready to spring at Sasuke. Sasuke had pulled out his katana and was ready to lunge.

Naruto raced towards the Uchiha, who advanced as well, but in mid-stride, both froze and fell over. Growling loudly now, Naruto tried to turn his head, but found he couldn't. He only had control over his eyes. He looked over at Shi, and wasn't surprised when he found her facing them, her hands together in the symbol used for her shadow technique.

"Shi! Let us go!" Sasuke snapped. Naruto just growled, and the boys resumed their glaring contest.

"Sasuke," Shi said, keeping an oddly calm tone to her voice, "you know Leader-sama wants him back alive. If I let you two fight, you'll kill each other. And I'm **not** going to be the one to tell him you killed the Kyuubi's host."

Now Naruto glared at Shizuka. Why was she acting like she hadn't been his teammate? Why was she acting like he was some nobody that she was okay with killing? He remembered very clearly how freaked out she got when she came into contact with a corpse. It was a fear of hers ever since she had been stuck in a burning room with her twin sister's and little brother's body. Naruto had constantly teased her about that fear. So how could she kill anybody? How did she not get squeamish at the sigh of a dead body? And now did she become so heartless that she could kill her ex-teammate?

"What the hell happened to you?" He snapped, glaring at her. But she didn't even flinch. "Akatsuki? You were always the one trying to become Jounin so you could catch up to Sensei! You even said you'd be ANBU like he used to be!" He watched with satisfaction as her eyes clouded over. He'd struck a cord. "What would Kakashi think of you being in the Akatsuki? Do you think he'd be happy? Is this how you mourn him? Killing people?! He'd want you to strive and become stronger! He'd want us to stay a team! You know how much he valued teamwork!"

With tears threatening at the thought of his deceased sensei, Naruto looked away quickly and blinked back the tears. When he looked up at Shi, her hair was covering her face.

"Do you really think he's proud of you? Do you really think he approves of this? He'd be so-"

The weight of her anger crushed her concentration, caught her shadow to snap and rip away from the boys, than fling itself back under her feet. Her whole body trembled and her hands were clenched into tight fists at her side. Head bowed low, and hair in her face, they couldn't see the anger and hurt that contorted her features.

Sasuke straightened himself up and watched Naruto through narrowed eyes.

Naruto's demonic demeanor had faded; no red chakra, eyes blue, human-stance, etc. He frowned and watched Shi tremble. Despite the obvious effect his words had on her, he wasn't done.

"He loved you more than anything. He wanted you to be happy; he still does. He'd be upset that you're so heartless now, and he'd be disappointed that you're in the Akatsuki. Damnit, the Akatsuki killed Asuma and Jiraya!" Naruto snapped. "How could you disgrace him? Him! An ex-ANBU! How could you become Akatsuki after being with someone who we were all sure would be the sixth Hokage?! How could you even-"

"FUCK YOU!" Shizuka yelled, with such intensity that Naruto jumped and even the 'emotionless' Sasuke cringed. Tears rolled down her cheeks and her blue eyes were ablaze with rage.

"Fuck you!" She said again, this time her voice heavy with the sound of her crying.

Naruto turned away, than glared down at the ground. She'd flipped him off, called him a plethora of rude names before, and all sorts of vile things. That was just their nature. They constantly fought. But never before had they struck each other so bitterly. He couldn't remember a time he had said anything that brought her into such a fit of angry tears. And he also couldn't remember a time she had yelled at him with such hatred. She had never really been even able to think about killing him. They did care about each other in a twisted way that almost never showed, but now he was positive she only hated him and wanted him dead.

She glared at him, before turning and fleeing from the make-shift camp sight, still crying furiously as she ran.

"Shi!" Sasuke called, going to chase after her, but she turned and glared at him.

"Leave. Me. Alone." She said, before running again.

The Uchiha watched his partner for a brief moment, before turning to the dumb-stricken blond. Not giving him the chance to escape, Sasuke used the Nara's ability to manipulate shadows and held Naruto tight. Than, Sasuke retied the blond. Neither said a word, and Naruto only glared as he was bound by the wrists and ankles again. When Sasuke was done, he sat down by the fire and stared off into the distance. Naruto laid down and stared up at the stars.

When Shi came back a few hours later, they still hadn't said a word to each other and were still staring off into space. She looked at Naruto for awhile, but he didn't notice. He was staring at the sky, wishing he had told Clair how much he loved her. He was positive he was never going to see her again. His lids clamped shut and tiny threads of tears fell out and down across his cheeks.

Seeing the silvery sheen on his face that glowed in the moonlight, Shi turned away, than sat by the fire. Quietly, she told Sasuke to sleep. Having not heard her walk back, he looked dup at her confused. Her hair hung in a tangle of reddish-brown curls and he could see the slight glitter of moisture on her face. He watched her for a moment, than nodded and laid down on his side. He quickly fell asleep.

Naruto turned his head slightly and watched Sasuke before looking to Shi. He was startled to find her staring back at him. For a moment their blue eyes locked and a silent conversation seemed to pass through them. Than Naruto turned away and fell asleep, leaving Shizuka along in the dark of night.


	9. Ready to Fall

_I know I`ve been gone for  
What seems like forever  
But I`m here now waiting  
Wings won`t take me  
Heights don`t phase me  
So take a step  
But don`t look down, take a step_

_"Ready to Fall" - Rise Against_

--

When they woke up the next day, they immediately began the walk back to base. Sasuke picked up Naruto and tossed his unconscious ex-teammate's body onto his shoulder. Shizuka and Sasuke didn't speak to each other at all as they walked, and Naruto didn't say a word when he woke up. He stayed silent for hours.

"Sasuke, make sure he's not dead." Shizuka finally said.

"I'm alive." Naruto grumbled bitterly.

Sasuke nodded and Shi turned away, than they started walking again.

The Uchiha watched his partner as they walked, but it was obvious she was gone. She stared at the ground as she walked, her head still churning with what had been said the previous night. The wounds from Kakashi's death had been re-opened in one fatal hit that still stung. She was back to the way she'd been when she had started mourning; distant. He'd learned that she often grew distant lately and he hadn't seen her old self in years. He was also sure he wouldn't see the old Shizuka until a very long time.

They didn't stop to eat along the way, but instead walked the long route to the Akatsuki's base. Naruto didn't say anything when his stomach started to churn with hunger. Instead, he pushed the hunger away and watched the ground below Sasuke's feet. Minutes felt like days and hours felt like years. _I'm going to die. I'm going to die._

After what seemed like an eternity, the Akatsuki members stopped and set up a camp. They'd walked for a full day and still weren't to the base. The thought shocked Naruto. Than again, it took three days to get to Suna.

"You can sleep first Sasuke." Shi said. They never slept at the same time; one stayed awake to watch for ANBU and make sure Naruto didn't escape. With a nod, Sasuke laid down and went to sleep. For a while, Shizuka watched him. She watched the steady rise and fall of his chest. She watched his face; calm and at peace as he slept. She watched him toss and turn a bit before he finally settled down and slept peacefully.

Than she turned her attention back to Naruto. He was staring up at the sky, oblivious to her gaze. With a slight frown, she got up and walked over to him. Looming over him, she pressed a finger to her lips and glanced back at Sasuke, who was still asleep. Naruto watched her, very confused. What on Earth was she doing? She kneeled down next to him and helped him into a sitting position. He watched her carefully as she reached behind him and untied his wrists. She gestured towards his ankles and again glanced over her shoulder at her sleeping partner. Still clueless about what she was doing, he slowly untied his ankles. By the time he had finished, she was on her feet, a hand help out to help him up. He didn't take it, and instead lifted himself up. She than turned on her heels as if to leave. When she glanced over her shoulder at him, he understood she wanted him to follow. So, he did as she ran from camp towards Konoha.

"Where are we going?" Naruto finally asked when they were a safe distance from the camp.

"Konoha," She said shortly.

Then ran side-by-side, only because he was faster than her; she'd never been a fast runner. He watched her suspiciously, but she never even glanced at him. She was concentrating dead-ahead.

"Why are you helping me?" He finally asked his former teammate.

Still, she didn't look at him, nor did she say anything. He was starting to think she hadn't heard him, but than she sighed.

"Why not?"

"Because you're supposed to be killing me.' He said bitterly.

"I'm not _supposed to be_ anything." She said. "I'll choose how I want to live my life."

"Okay, so you chose joining an organization whose goal is to kill me, than decided you were going to not do that? Hello! You're in the Akatsuki! You can't really think you can be a part of the group and not do as you're told." He snapped, not understanding her at all. Than again, he never had.

She just sighed and shook her head like he was a complete idiot. She didn't give him an explanation, which infuriated him. He opened his mouth to make a rude retort, but she cut him off.

"Look, if you keep giving me shit, I'm tying you back up and you will die." The scowl fell from his face and he looked away. "I'm saving your life, so shut the hell up Blondie."

He grumbled under his breath, something about how he hated it when she called him that. Catching this, her lips twitched upwards in a slight smirk. She'd forgotten how much she enjoyed harassing him.

-

Although it was no surprise to Clair, she was still annoyed that Raidon had bitched about working with Jake and John. Of course, Clair had shaken her around, telling her to get over it. Lycan had to admit she found it funny. Neither Jake nor John was amused by Raidon's grudge against them though. To work things out, they decided to split up into two groups; ANBU in one, non-ANBU in the other; although Aiko had chosen to stay in the non-ANBU group.

Clair was not too thrilled about searching for her boyfriend with complaints coming from behind her. Jake wasn't happy about Rae's attitude and the fact that he had to look for Naruto, who he really disliked. John couldn't care otherwise; he just had to help Clair.

As they searched the southern perimeter of Konoha, Lycan, Raidon, Kazumi and Aiko searched the northern perimeter. However, none of them were able to catch sight of Shi and Naruto as they neared Konoha.

-

Hidden amongst the shadows, with the aid of Shi's shadow camouflage jutsu, the two made their way through the outskirts of Konoha, than paused. They both looked up at the barrier that encased the hidden village.

"Well, you can find your way home from here, right? Or do I need to show you were you live?" Shi asked with a slight smirk.

"I know where I live." He said, glaring at her.

"I'm sure you do." She with a nod; he could almost see the sarcasm spill out of her mouth.

As she turned to leave, he called her back. Twisting at the waist, she turned and looked at him with an eyebrow cocked. He sighed.

"I guess I should be thanking you for saving me, but you were the one who kidnapped me in the first place, so-"

"Save it Blondie." She laughed, shaking her head. He started to object, but she had already vanished into the shadows.

-

Sharingan eyes sweeping the forest, Raidon ran with Kazumi and Aiko, while Lycan soared overhead as an eagle. Tossing her head back, Aiko looked up at the giant red and black bird, and called out to the shape-shifter.

"See anything yet?"

With her sharpened vision, Lycan looked around and started to report that she didn't when a black bur caught her gaze. "Yeah!"

"Where?" Raidon asked, looking around.

"This way! Follow me!" Lycan called before changing course and swooping down towards the blur. Kazumi, Raidon and Aiko followed at full speed.

-

"Hey Clair! I think I see something!" John called out, pointing ahead of him.

Clair squinted her eyes and soon she saw what he was seeing; a figure dressed in black, racing away from Konoha. Than she heard wings flapping. Looking up to they sky, she saw Lycan in hot pursuit. They'd some how caught up with the others.

"Clair!" Raidon called out as the groups intersected. "We think we found whoever took Naruto!"

"No duh. What took you so long?" Clair asked, watching Lycan circle overhead. She than looked at Jake and John, who were both pacing, probably annoyed that whoever it was, was getting away. She waved for them to go and in an instant the boys were off.

"Let's try to corner him." Clair said, watching Lycan. "Jake and John can get him from behind. Lycan and I are the fastest so we can him from the front and you three from the side."

"Hopefully those two idiots can keep him in one spot." Raidon said. Aiko punched her shoulder, seeing Clair's frustration, and understanding it as ANBU herself.

Without saying anything though, Clair took off at full speed, easily keeping up with Lycan who shot off like a bullet. Aiko shot off, obviously eager to find her brother. Rae and Zumi looked at each other, before following her at their own pace, before they split off to the side.

-

"Hmm…" Shizuka mumbled, glancing over her shoulder as she ran. ANBU of course. She'd been careless and lazy, and hadn't used her camouflage. Rolling her eyes, she quickly brought it up, turning her body almost completely black. Still, they had seen her so it wasn't going to be an easy escape. It was going to be messy.

-

"Damnit, he vanished." Jake snapped.

"Open your eyes genius, it's a genjutsu." John said, keeping his eyes on the faint outline of the shadowy figure. The camouflage was almost perfect, but if he knew was he was looking for and concentrated, John could still see the figure.

"Well I don't see him."

"Than follow me." John said, taking the lead. He squinted through the eyes of his mask, now understanding why Clair never wore hers. It got in the way and it was sweaty. But if he took it off, he'd be revealing himself to his enemy. Stupid mask.

"I still don't see that damn bastard." Jake complained. Irritated, John smacked him and told him to shut up. He couldn't concentrate with Jake being so obnoxious. It didn't help any that Jake continued to complain. Finally, John glared at Jake and decked him, hard, but when he looked for the criminal again, he couldn't find him.

"Now look what you did!" John grumbled, looking around, but he couldn't find anything. "Help me look."

Slowing their pace, the two gazed around, trying to catch any sign of movement or flicker in the light. But as time passed, and the darkness held, neither could catch sight of the outcast. He had vanished.

"Damnit, we lost him." Jake said in a tone that almost sounded like a snarl.

"Wait, over there." John suddenly said, squinting towards a bush. There was movement shaking the branches and rattling the leaves. Slowly they advanced on the bush, before both jumped and wrestled the bush, squishing it down. Branches snapped and leaves flew as Jake grabbed hold of something. He tightened his grip on it and smirked as the person yelped out.

"Jake! That's my foot you dumb ass!" John yelled, smacking his teammate's hand away.

"Than what the hell was in the bush?!" Now Jake was really irritated. It only got worse as a dazed squirrel staggered out of the bushes, and limped off. "A squirrel?!"

John was red from embarrassment, and Jake was red from anger. They'd attacked a squirrel, not a criminal. How had they been tricked so easily?

They were both fuming and brushing twigs and leaves off themselves when a laugh erupted around them. At first they thought Clair had witnessed their miserable failure, but they realized it wasn't Clair's voice. It wasn't Clair laughing at them. Both turned on their heels and whipped their heads around, looking for the source of the laughter. They hadn't been chasing a man. A girl had kidnapped Naruto. That is, if it was in fact Naruto's kidnapped they were chasing.

"You're not too bright, are you guys?"

"Show yourself!" Jake yelled, looking towards the voice. For a split second he thought he saw what looked like rapid hand movements, but he didn't have time to really look. With a gasp, his hands flew to his throat and his fingers ripped at the hand that had grabbed his neck. He tried clawing at the hand, attempting to break skin and draw blood, but he had no success there. The grip only tightened around his neck and breathing became harder.

Quickly, John shot a kunai in the direction of the shadow-girl. His aim was dead-on. The only way she could avoid being hit was to release Jake and jump away. Which she did. As he was released, Jake caught his breath and looked towards the enemy, who had dropped her camouflage.

At first glance, she looked kind of like Clair with her reddish-brown hair that peeked out from under her straw hate. Through the veil they caught a glimpse of her face, but it was covered in shadows, which did them little good. However, it was the long black cloak with red clouds, that really struck home. Akatsuki. They had found Naruto's kidnapper. Not waiting for Clair and the others, Jake and John charged at the Akatsuki.

-

Clair and Lycan made their way through the forest, keeping their eyes open for Jake and John.

"Hey Clair," Lycan called, gliding down towards her younger friend. "Your boys are attacking a bush, but the baddy isn't with them."

"Those idiots." Clair groaned, shaking her head. If Jake and John were doing, oh who knew what they were doing, than Rae, Zumi and Aiko were going to be useless. They were going to need the two Uchiha's for the real threat. "Lyc, go get the others than come catch up."

"Roger!" Lycan called. She made an about-face than sped off to find the other girls while Clair continued to follow the fugitive.

Lycan returned with Raidon, Kazumi and Aiko, shortly and they took off after the criminal as quick as lightning.

"What happened to the guys?" Kazumi asked.

"Attacking a bush," Lycan said she as she watched the ground with her eagle eyes.

A slight snicker escaped Raidon's lips, but Clair ignored it. She was going to beat Rae later. Than humiliate Jake and John for being such idiots.

After running for a good distance, Lycan swooped down to the others and changed to her human self.

"It stopped up ahead.' Lycan said, cocking her head to the side, gesturing to where the enemy was. Without hesitation, the five ran towards their enemy.

Sharingan eyes ablaze, Raidon fell in behind Clair and Lycan. Slowly, she could see the outlines of a figure in a long black cloak, but something didn't seem right. As they neared, she pulled a kunai from her pouch and pushed Clair and Lycan out of the way, than hurled the weapon at the enemy. The kunai struck home and than disappeared in a poof of smoke, along with the enemy.

"Shadow clone," Aiko said, frustrated.

"Than where's the real one?" Kazumi asked.

"Probably with Jake and John," Clair realized out loud.

"But they're attacking a bush," Lycan reminded her.

"And I didn't see anything," Raidon added in.

"Well let's see either of you come up with something better!" Clair snapped. Without waiting for a response, she ran off back towards her teammates. Faithfully, Lycan followed Clair, with Kazumi, Raidon and Aiko right behind her.

With her abnormal quickness, Clair left her friends in the dust, unintentionally. She was worried about Jake and John, terrified her boyfriend was going to die and mad at whoever it was she was chasing. She wanted to beat them senseless. She was the first one to reach the boys. What she found wasn't pretty. Jake and John were slumped against a tree, both breathing hard. Jake was grinding his teeth and holding his side while John whipped blood from a gaping wound in his arm. They weren't dead, just exhausted. Clair was willing to bet that their enemy was in worse condition than they were.

"What happened?" She asked as she walked over to them.

"We were attacked." Jake said, wincing as crimson oozed from his fingertips where he held his side.

"I can see that." Clair said dully. At that point, the other four girls had found their way to the ANBUs. Rae and Zumi set to work on healing the two – Rae muttering under her breath as she healed John's forehead because Jake refused to let her touch him.

"Who attacked you?" Aiko asked, watching Jake as Kazumi healed his side.

"An Akatsuki girl." John said. "She was probably around your age. She had hair like Clair's and dark blue eyes. And she fought with her shadow."

"Raidon and Kazumi both froze momentarily than went back to healing, both with a frown. However, the ANBUs pushed them away.

"Go get her!" Jake snapped.

"Before she gets away with Naruto," John added, looking at Clair. She nodded tensely, than looked at Lycan. Raidon and Kazumi rose and watched Clair, Lyc and Aiko. They were all thinking the same thing.

Without a warning, Clair and Aiko ran off to find the Akatsuki member, and the other three followed silently.

-

Leaning up against a tree, Shi panted for breath and looked around for the ANBU boys. _Good, I lost them, _She thought as she whipped away blood that had seeped from a cut above her brow, down into her eyes. She had underestimated the. They were strong, unlike most of the ANBU she encountered. They had proved to be a difficult fight. Still, she wasn't that badly beaten up, just exhausted. Sinking to the ground, she pulled off her cloak and un-wrapped the bandages she wore around her arm and started to wrap a cut on her leg. She didn't wear bandages just because they looked cool. They had other used too. When she finished wrapped her leg, she started walking – limping slightly – back towards the direction of where Sasuke was, hopefully, asleep at their make-shift camp.

She froze however when she heard the sound of feet stamping against the ground. _These must be the ones that destroyed my shadow clone._ She thought, waiting for her enemies. Pulling her cloak tightly around her and her hat down further over her head, she watched as five young women ran up and surrounded her. The corners of her lips twitched slightly as her head rotated from side to side, taking in the sight around her. Five very familiar faces stared at her, without really seeing her through the delicate veil that masked her face. She had really hoped she could avoid them for a while; as if half a year wasn't enough. She knew she couldn't beat them, and she definitely couldn't lead them to camp and Sasuke. Guess she had no choice but to fight, than hopefully make a break for it.

"Show yourself! Or fight us! You'll pay for what you've done!"

They still hadn't recognized her. At first, she did nothing. They were tensed and waiting, oblivious. Her shoulders shook as a force rocked her body than erupted form her lips as quiet laughter. Than slowly it strengthened and she threw her head back and laughed. It was a cold, cruel laugh that reflected a cold, cruel heart. As she laughed, the four Konoha girls and Suna girl frowned in unison. The laugh was bitter and from someone hardened over time. Someone who had grown cold to the world and its inhabitants.

Slowly, she pulled her hand from across her cloak to the rim of her straw-hate, and pulled it away, exposing herself to the five young women. Her eyes closed, she addressed them;

"I've been under your nose all this time. And you didn't even know it was me. Hmph. Well than, let's see how you've changed."

The girls watched with widened eyes as the Akatsuki's hair fell from her hat as she shook it out. It dropped down across her shoulder and stopped around her waist; longer than they remembered it. Slowly, a smirk crossed her face as she lifted her lids, showing a pair of deep sapphire eyes. Her gaze swept over them all, taking each one in, comparing each girl to the girl in her memory. They had all changed.

"I've changed too." She said. "And all this time you thought I was dead. Well, guess whose back." Her voice rang out in a sing-song manner. Her demonic smirk intensified the cruel shock of the Akatsuki robe she wore.

Staring back at her were five sets of eyes, contorted with mixed emotions; hatred, twisted with an old friendship. She was their friend, now turned villain. She was now their enemy. She had kidnapped Naruto. She would've killed him. With lumps in their throats and knots in their stomachs, they watched her, not sure what to do.

"Let's fight." She said with a fire that masked the regret that threatened to over power. Instead, she did as she had since Kakashi's death; hidden her true self from the world and played a cruel monster. "Five against one. I'll show you I'm not the weakest link anymore."


	10. Hate Me

_Hate me today  
Hate me tomorrow  
Hate me for all the things I didn't do for you  
Hate me in ways, yeah ways hard to swallow  
Hate me so you can finally see what's good for you_

_"Hate Me" - Blue October_

--

Immediately Raidon knew she did not want to fight. Yes, the Akatsuki member had kidnapped Naruto, but it wasn't worth it in her eyes. None of the others were sure they wanted to fight either. They easily outnumbered her, but she had just fought Jake and John and didn't seem to be too injured, for all they could tell. And she was their friend, wasn't she? How could they fight her as if they'd never known her? They would easily defeat her, they knew it, and they knew they should, but they couldn't bring themselves to do it.

Clair's gut twisted with betrayal. Her teammate – well, ex-teammate now – had joined Akatsuki. How unsurprising that their dysfunctional team would split this way; two went to the Akatsuki's side, while the other two hung back. Almost like a civil war. And no sensei to keep them together like he had always tried. Bitterly, Clair glared at the older girl, unable to bring herself to do anything more. Why? She didn't know. She had always thumped the squabbling duo of the team, despite the fact that one was her boyfriend and the other a close friend. Clair had hit her before, so why was it so hard now?

Aiko was too stunned to know what to do. Just like Kazumi and Lycan. Fight her? Did she really mean it? Surely she realized she was outnumbered greatly. What on earth was she thinking?

"You guys are so pathetic." She said with a frown. As she reached into her cloak, they all tensed up and poised for a fight, realizing she was dead serious when she said she would take them on.

"Nikki! We don't want to fight you!" Kazumi yelled out.

Again, the Akatsuki member shook with cold laughter. "Oh it's been forever since I've heard _that _name." With a sigh, she shook her head and her face turned icy cold. "If you really knew me, you'd call me by my real name."

Stumped, they exchanged glances. They'd known her as Nikki ever since they had known her. Only Raidon and Kazumi had known her before she had changed her name, but neither of them could remember her real name; or the fact that Nikki Nara wasn't her real name.

Rolling her eyes in disgust, she lectured, as if they were ignorant. "Shizuka. My real name is Shizuka. I should've guessed you guys didn't really care. I'm sure the last six months of your lives have been a lot easier with me out of the way."

"Don't you dare say that!" Kazumi snapped.

"You're stupid if you think we don't miss you!" Raidon said bitterly, clenching her fists.

"Do you have any clue what we've been doing to try and find you, woman?" Aiko demanded.

"Yeah!" Lycan added in.

But Clair remained silently staring at the ground.

Heaving a sigh, Shizuka shrugged them all off, not caring. Her dark gaze swept to her former teammate. It had only been half a year, but still the change in the younger girl was striking to Shi. Donned in the ANBU attire, minus the mask, she looked older than just sixteen. With a tinge of bitterness and regret, Shi watched as Clair rose her head and locked her purple gaze to Shi's dark blue one. Once teammates, now sworn enemies, Clair glared intensely at Shi, whose face was cold. They knew their place and what they were supposed to do, but neither liked it.

"Do you hate me?" Shi asked. "I betrayed you. I'm rouge now, and you're ANBU. You're supposed to hunt me down, remember? It's your duty. Just like it's my duty to capture Kyuubi." She said, jabbing at Clair in just the right places. All she was really doing was trying to persuade Clair to attack.

"Don't you care at all?!" Clair shot back. "What happened to teamwork? You were the one that kidnapped Naruto! And you hurt Jake and John! All because of what, huh? Kakashi dies and you betray him by doing this?!"

A flash of anger sparked in her eyes, breaking the cold and heartless act. "Don't act like you know me, because you don't! You don't know me!"

"Don't I?" Clair snapped. "Don't we know you?" She accused, throwing her arm out and gesturing to the others. "We thought we knew you, but apparently we don't"

"We don't know this heartless monster." Kazumi added in.

"This isn't you." Lycan deemed.

"What happened to you?" Raidon asked.

"You want to know?" Shizuka finally snapped, glaring at them all. "I learned the hard way what Konoha is really like. Tell me you could go on your life cheerily after watching your love die in your arms and find out that Konoha had known about the threat all along! They knew someone was out there that could kill anybody, but never warned us. And tell me you could be the same after watching him die," She turned to Aiko and directed the last portion at her, "and not come back. Unlike you, I'll never get to see him again." Aiko cringed. They'd been through this before, but it still stung.

"That's no reason to join Akatsuki," Kazumi said weakly, than flinched away when Shizuka turned her icy glare on her.

"I don't belong in Konoha, nor do I want to." She said, emphasizing the end. She didn't want to go back. That was final.

"And what about Naruto?" Lycan asked.

"You're just going to kill him and not care, aren't you?" Aiko asked through gritted teeth.

"You're bitter about losing Kakashi, but you don't care that you're going to do the same thing to me!" Clair cried out. Grabbing her kunai, she ran at her former teammate. She was too fast for Shi to dodge accurately, and the result was a kunai protruding from Shi's arm.

With a grimace, Shi ripped the kunai from her arm, sending a spray of blood into Clair's face. But neither was fazed by it. With a cry, Shi turned and slashed at Clair with the already bloodied kunai, but missed; just barely.

Ducking out of the way, Clair lowered herself to the ground in a squat, and placed her hands on the ground to hold herself up as she kicked out, knocking Shi's feet out from under her. Shi felt to the ground with a thud, but quickly turned herself over and swung out of her foot, which made contact with Clair's stomach. Grunting, Clair fell onto her back and grabbed at her stomach. Both girls rose to their feet and again lunged at each other, while the other four watched, horror-stricken.

"What do we do?" Lycan asked desperately.

"We gotta stop them!" Kazumi said, eyes wide and darting around frantically.

"Éclair! Ni-Shizuka!" Aiko screamed, forcing herself to use her friend's preferred name. "Stop it!"

"They're going to kill each other…" Shaking, Raidon watched as Clair slammed her fist into Shi's stomach at the same time Shi's fist pummeled against Clair's cheek. Rae vaguely remembered hearing the story of Sasuke and Naruto fighting on the roof of the hospital before Sasuke had left, and of Clair and Shi's fight during the Chunnin exams. Had Team Seven always been this way? A constant fight between light and darkness? There was a strange irony in seeing the former teammates fight this way; one ANBU, the other Akatsuki. They'd never fought like this. It'd always been goofy bickering over something stupid. Even Shizuka and Naruto, who were non-stop with their arguing, had never gone at each other like this. What was happening to them?

Both skidding against the ground at the impact of the blows. Ignoring the blood that rolled out from the corner of her lip, Clair got up and watched Shi, who had gotten onto all fours and was coughing onto the ground. Clenching her fists, Clair ran over and grabbed Shizuka by the collar, pulling her up, than shook her violently.

"Where's Naruto?!" She shouted, teeth ground together as tears threatened to pool over.

Shi shoved Clair away without a word. As Clair stumbled back, Shizuka advanced on her. A long shinning blade fell from the sleeve of her cloak and hovered there, her hand unseen under the thick expanse of the cloth, as it gripped the hilt of the katana tightly.

Raidon's eyes widened as she whispered something that showed her shock.

"Clair!" With a yell, her body rippled and morphed to that of a black and red wolf as she ran at the Akatsuki member.

Shi's gaze flickered to Lycan quickly, than with a slight smirk, she advanced on the wolf with sword out stretched.

"Ah shit!" Aiko swore as she too now ran at Shi, but from the other side.

"C'mon! We've got to help Clair and Lyc!" Raidon called to Kazumi. Both quickly activated their Sharingans and looked to the ongoing fight, apprehensively.

Before Lycan and Shi had time to tackle each other, Éclair had reached out and grabbed hold of Shi's ankle, slamming her to the ground. As Lycan and Aiko advanced, Shi rolled over onto her back and slashed out at Clair with the katana. Then ANBU barely managed to hold up a kunai defensively in time as the sword slammed down against the kunai. Clair noted bitterly that she had stabbed Shi's left arm. Useless, she was right-handed. With a quick shove, Clair forced Shi away right as Lycan and Aiko came up on the side.

With the three surrounding her as she stood, Shi stepped back wearily, glancing around at them, before looked over at the two Uchiha's that followed. They formed a barrier as the Akatsuki backed up against a tree.

"Where. Is. Naruto?" Clair demanded, advancing on Shizuka. When there was no response, Clair swiftly pressed the tip of her kunai to Shi's throat, an intense fury in her eyes. "Where the hell is my boyfriend?!" She yelled, ready to, yet again, slam her fist into the other girls face.

"Home." Shi said coldly.

"Liar!" Clair yelled, tears brimming as she punched Shi in the cheek. Her neck cracked as it was thrown to the side. She left her head that way – turned to the side – for awhile before slowly turning her head back to face them.

"I'm not lying." She said, her voice dull. Her eyes were glazed over with something Clair hadn't expected. Her purple gaze softened from the glare it had been contorted into, and became a look of surprise. Shi's blue eyes were glazed over with sincere longing. For what she longed, Clair had no clue.

"I'm sorry Clair." She said quietly.

Clair glanced down with alarm and saw Shi's hand tight in a hand seal, than felt pressure being forced onto her neck. Her vision blurred, before it faded to black and she crumpled to the floor.

Immediately, Lycan ran to catch her fallen friend, while the others turned to Shi, prepared for a fight. But before they could do anything, Shizuka had blurred and become a shadow herself, than finally vanished completely.

"Damnit." Raidon hissed, clenching her fists.

"Can we just go home?" Kazumi asked tiredly, looking at her friends. She looked like she'd just been kicked in the gut.

"Yeah, let's get Clair back." Aiko said, glancing over at the youngest girl, who was unconscious in Lycan's arms.

They started their trek back silently, but it didn't last long. Kazumi looked at Clair, than Aiko, knowing Naruto's girlfriend and sister had been the ones most worried.

"You think… You think she was telling the truth?" Kazumi asked.

"What do you mean?" Raidon asked in response. Aiko and Lycan stared at Kazumi, also confused.

"About Naruto being home." Kazumi said.

"Oh!" Lycan exclaimed, looking down at Clair who was starting to stir.

"Well let's go find out!" Aiko said, racing off.

"Whoa! What's going on?" Clair asked with a surprised squeak as Lycan took off running.

"Clair! You're awake!" Lycan said excitedly. She hugged her friend tightly, who squirmed and tried to wiggle out of the grip as well as being carried like a baby.

"Naruto might be ok! We've got to go check!" Aiko called over her shoulder, not wanting to slow down, even though Raidon and Kazumi had.

"Ack! Put me down!" Clair pleaded. With a pout, Lycan set Clair down. Immediately, Clair sprinted off, catching up with Aiko, and eventually passing the other ANBU as the girls raced home. They ran, full speed, back to Konoha, than to Clair and Naruto's house where Naruto sat on the couch, anxiously waiting. When Clair burst in, the two embraced tightly. When Aiko made her way in, she hugged her brother, before slugging him in the arm.

"Hey! What the hell?" He yelled, rubbing his arm.

"'Cause you deserved it." Aiko said with a grin. Clair rolled her eyes, but couldn't help and smile.

"Oh! Shit!" Clair suddenly exclaimed. "Got to go check on Jake and John!" She said, running off, ignoring an eye roll from Rae and a groan from Naruto. She found them trudging about Konoha, near headquarters, looking tired and annoyed, but alright nonetheless. Sighing with relief, she returned home to find everyone but Naruto and Aiko had left. Aiko had fallen asleep on the cough and Clair couldn't blame her. She was exhausted too. She made her way to her room and curled up with Naruto, than immediately fell asleep.

-

Limping her way into camp, Shi swore, seeing Sasuke awake. More than awake. In fact, he was waiting for her with his arms crossed.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do."


	11. Decode

_How did we get here?  
Well, I use to know you so well  
But how did we get here?  
Well, I think I know how_

Do you see what we've done?  
We're gonna make such fools of ourselves  
Do you see what we've done?  
We're gonna make such fools of ourselves

"_Decode" – Paramore_

--

"What the hell happened to you?" Sasuke demanded, taking in the bruises and cuts visible along his partner's body.

"Got into a fight." She said simply, shrugging it off.

"With who?" He narrowed his eyes and watched her as she sat by the fire and set to work on cleaning and dressing her wounds.

"ANBU." She said, her tone implying that it should've been obvious.

"Right." He said dryly. Walking over to her, his arms crossed over his chest, he stared down at her with a frown. "So, while you decided to go get into a fight, Uzumaki took the opportunity to flee."

"His name's Naruto." She spat, resisting the urge to call Sasuke some vile name.

"Whatever." He groaned. "You let him escape."

"Opps." She said, mocking innocence, just to piss him off.

"What the fuck were you thinking?" He snapped, throwing his hands into the air.

She shrugged and mumbled a lame 'dunno' as she tore off the remains of bandaging she had wrapped around her arm, using her teeth as aid. When she finished with her arm, she cleaned dried blood off her face, all the while ignoring him.

This only infuriated him more. "You let Uzumaki escape. Stop lying to me."

"Hey, look! You do have a brain!" She exclaimed with fake optimism, but real sarcasm. As quick as the mask had come, it fled as she became serious again and went back to work on nursing herself.

"You little bitch." Sasuke snarled. Without thinking, he slapped her across her already bruised cheek. Her eyes widened in shock and a gasp escaped her lips. Surprised by his own actions, his hand recoiled away from her face, and he watched her. He was shocked that he had slapped her, but he was still angry. She was going to get them killed by Leader-sama. It was bad enough that the Kyuubi had escaped, but it was even worse since she had let him escape. Leader-sama was definitely going to kill them.

"Heartless asshole." Shizuka hissed after recovering from the shock. She rose to her feet and decked him square in the jaw. His hand flew to his jaw, than he glared at her.

Of course, almost every team of two in the history of the Akatsuki – except for Itachi and Kisame and Leader and Konan - could not get along. Kakuzu had, apparently, even killed some of his previous partners. He hadn't killed Hidan because of Hidan's immortality, but everyone knew they had wanted to kill each other. Everyone was amazed Sasori hadn't killed Deidara yet, and everyone was waiting for Deidara to kill Tobi. Despite the history of hateful teammates, Sasuke and Shizuka were the weirdest duo; one minute they were best friends, standing up for each other, the next, they were trying to kill each other.

"How could you let him go like that?" Sasuke snapped.

"How could you not?!" Shizuka shot back.

"Leader-sama's going to kill us!" He said.

"Good!" She retorted.

"You want to die?" He asked, amazed.

"Where the fuck have you been the last six months?" She yelled. "Do you not know me at all?"

He cringed and clenched his teeth. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he had known, but he never wanted to believe it. He'd seen the signs though; she woke up in the middle of the night, crying for Kakashi, constantly. She hated the Akatsuki, but especially, she hated being a part of it. He knew she trained too hard not because she wanted to get better, but because she hoped one day her body would give up and stop working. He knew she was constantly getting in trouble with Deidara not just because she found it fun, but because she hoped ANBU or Leader-sama would kill her for it. He knew why she had started drinking, and, he would never tell anybody, not even her, that he had caught her smoking before. But even with all that evidence, the truth still stung. She was trying to get herself killed.

"Fine." He snapped. "I'll go get Uzumaki myself and you can go jump off a cliff for all I care." He said, but both knew he didn't really mean it. He was just mad. He turned to leave, but stopped when she grabbed his arm.

"You'll leave him alone." She said, glaring at him.

"You're not the boss of me." He retorted, yanking away from her.

Before he was given the chance to continue on, she grabbed him again, but tighter this time. Her grip was so tight, he could almost feel her nails digging into his skin through the cloak's sleeve.

"I said, you'll leave him alone." She said coldly, glaring at him.

"And are you going to stop me?" He asked with a slight smirk, telling her he wasn't taking her seriously.

"Yup." She said.

Than she took her anger out on his stomach. Gripping his arm tightly, she shoved her knee into his stomach. With a gasp, he doubled over and held his stomach.

"Leave. Naruto. Alone." She commanded, as she toppled to the floor.

With a snarl, he grabbed her ankle and pulled her down to the ground with him. She landed on her back with a grunt. Every sign of the Sasuke that had thrown himself in front of her to protect her from an army of bombs, had completely vanished.

Quickly standing up, he grabbed her by the collar, suspending her feet off the ground. She grabbed at his hands and glared at him as he held her up like that.

"Is somebody getting angry?" She mocked, trying to get him angrier.

Glaring at her furiously, he punched her across the face. He got even angrier when she started laughing at him – for what reason, he didn't know. So he punched her again.

She stopped than. Instead she just stared at him, blood rolling from her lips. At first he glared back at her, but as a sharp pain stabbed through his shoulder, he ground he teeth together and cringed. She smirked.

"Am I really that much of a threat, that you're resorting to that stupid mark?" She asked. "You're such a stupid hypocrite."

"Shut up!" Not completely controlling himself, he threw her against a tree as the mark flowed across his skin and engulfed his body. He advanced towards her as she pulled herself up. Watching her with his Sharingan, he could tell she was weak, but he didn't know it was because she had been in two fights prior to this.

"You're such a heartless bastard, you know that, right?" She asked as she leaned against a tree. "How many times have you tried to kill Naruto?"

"Does it matter?" He asked coldly, walking towards her.

"Well, seeing as he was your best friend, yes. It does." She said, glaring at him.

"He's not my best friend." He snapped.

"Oh right, 'cause you're too good for friends and family. Not enough room in that miniscule heart to love anyone besides yourself." She snarled.

"You try going through what I have and tell me it's easy to love!" He yelled.

"You think I don't know?!" She asked, amazed. As he came into arm's reach, she punched him in the face. "Try having people you love, abandon you when you need them the most! I've seen my family die, just like you! I've watched the people I love die! I watched Kakashi die, god damnit!" She yelled, tears rolling down her cheeks as she slammed her fist into his face again. "And unlike you, I don't want to be here! You may be having a grand time with your 'destroy Konoha' crap, but I'm not! I hate the Akatsuki! I hate Konoha! I hate the world! And I hate you!"

She aimed to take another punch at him, but he caught her hand before she could hit him. She watched as a defeated look crossed his face, but it vanished quickly and was replaced with anger.

"Is that really what you think?" He asked through clenched teeth.

"Yeah. So go ahead and take your anger out on me. Beat the living daylights out of me. Than go drop me off with Leader-sama so he can do the rest." She said. "You're just being weighed down by a partner like me. And if you don't do it, I'll kill myself."

"Than you'll never find Kakashi." He said quietly. "People who commit suicide don't go where Kakashi went."

"I couldn't get there anyways. But any place is better than here."

"I'm not going to kill you. And I'm not going to let you kill yourself." He said in a tired voice.

"Than I'll find somebody else to do it.' She said, running away from him.

Immediately, he took off after her. He caught up with her in no time and grabbed hold of her. She struggled against him, desperate to break free. She punched him and yelled how much she hated him, but still he held on to her, even though her words stabbed like a knife.

"I'm not going to let you get yourself killed." He said, grabbing both of her hands to stop her from punching. His curse mark had vanished completely and when she glared at him, she saw deep regret in his eyes. She stiffened, than relaxed, but continued to glare at him.

"Let me go."

"No." He said, his voice sounding very detached.

"Why do you even care?" She asked, shaking her head slightly.

He sighed, without giving her an answer.

"That's what I thought." She said bitterly. "You don't care. So let me go."

He tightened his grip and shook his head, "no".

She startled struggling again, confused at his meaning. He was so confusing, it infuriated her. The more she struggled though, the harder he held on. He wasn't going to let her go on, she would have to make him let go.

"Well even if you don't want me dead, I don't care. I hate you."

The defeated look came back to his eyes, but he didn't let go.

"I hate you and I want to die. Leave me alone. If you don't, I'll kill myself in front of you."

"You're not going anywhere, and I'm not going to let you die."

"Really? 'Cause a few minutes ago, you were ready to kill me yourself." She pointed out. "And you'd let Naruto die. So why do I matter? Why does Naruto deserve to die when he wants to live and why I have to live when I want to die?" She asked.

"Don't bring him into this." Sasuke said.

"Too late, I already did." She said smugly.

"Well, he has nothing to do with this."

"Doesn't he?" She asked. "Didn't we start fighting because I let him go?" She asked. He just glared at the ground, still holding her wrists. "It's not fair that-"

"Haven't you learned by now that life's not fair?" He demanded, still glaring at the ground.

"Yes, I have." She said bitterly.

"Than stop acting like this." He said.

"Like what?" Confused, she watched him glare at the ground. He never once looked up at her as he spoke.

"Stop trying to kill yourself." He said in a voice so low she almost didn't catch it.

"I can't promise you that." She said, knowing she was probably just going to go get killed the second she got away from him. "Now let go."

"No." He said, finally looking up at her. "You're just going to go get into another fight."

"So what, you're going to hold onto me forever?" She demanded, glaring at him.

"I'm not letting you kill yourself." He said, cleanly avoiding the question.

Her face twisted up with frustration and she attempted to pull away from him again.

"Why the hell do you even care? You never cared before! You abandoned me when I needed you, and left me on a park bench!" She yelled. "You never gave a crap that I cared about you! So why should you give a crap if I die?! I wish I had never gone to you for help! I wish I was dead! I hate you! I hate you!" She yelled at the top of her lungs.

And he finally broke. She had struck the fatal blow. He released her, and she ran off, leaving him alone. He watched her for awhile, than crumbled down to his knees and clenched his fists. Teeth ground together tightly, he admitted defeat. She hated him and she was going to kill herself. What was the point of going back to get Naruto? He knew that if he went after Naruto, he'd be killing two birds with one stone; both Naruto and Shi would die.

Cursing, he got up and ran after Shi. He had to make things right. He wasn't going to let her die. He chased after her through the forest, but no matter how hard he looked with his Sharingan, he couldn't find her anywhere.

-

She ran through the forest blindly, with tears streaming down her face. She didn't hate Sasuke, but it had been the only way to get him to let her go. She hated herself for hurting him so, but it was the only thing she could've done. And it wouldn't matter anyways. She was done with the world. She was sick of it. She wanted to curl up in a ball and die.

She'd had no intention of running smack-dab into a group of ANBU, but she realized that made things a lot easier for her. She put on her act and became the heartless monster as she wrestled around with the ANBU, but it didn't take long for them to pin her to the ground. She faked a struggle until one of the ANBUs grinded his heel into her back. With a gasp, she stopped. She waited as her wrists were bound tightly.

Arrested wasn't what she had in mind, but she figured that would work fairly well. Eventually they'd have to kill her anyways. So, with a trace of triumph in her eyes, she was led away to Konoha's jail.


	12. Knife Called Lust

_And just because you showed no love and hate on us  
you fucked our trust._

_This love, This Hate  
Is burning me away_

_It's harder times like these that never change_

_it all just hits so close to home,  
we all got friends but we stand alone, and your on your own from a broken home,  
you keep the truth inside and it stays unknown. Nostalgia hit and its time to quit,  
and everybody acts like it don't mean shit._

"_Knife Called Lust" – Hollywood Undead_

--

When they woke the next morning, Clair set off asking Naruto questions while he munched on cereal.

"So, Shi kidnapped you?" Clair asked.

"With Sasuke's help," He said with a nod.

"And Shi let you go?"

"Yup. After we yelled at each other and exchanged 'fuck you's." He said, leaving out a lot of their argument.

"Of course you two fought," She said, mostly to herself.

He rolled his eyes and told her to eat breakfast, but she refused, yet again. He gave up with not much of an argument. It was getting old.

"But, Shi just… let you go?" Clair asked, still confused.

"While Sasuke was asleep, she untied me and told me to follow her than we went to Konoha. Than she went back," He explained.

"That's when we ran into her. Man, you guys must've passed right by us and we didn't even notice," Clair said with a slight sigh.

"What happened when you guys ran into her?" He asked. She hadn't given him the full story. In fact, he'd barely figured out there had been some sort of confrontation.

She explained to him everything that had happened. She told him that they had found Jake and John beat up, after an apparent fight with Shi. She than told him about how she had fought Shizuka, mostly alone, and how they found out that he had been home, safe, the whole time.

"You two actually fought like that?" Naruto asked, stunned.

"Well," Clair started, chewing on the inside of her cheek. "Yeah, we did. I was mad and she was just eggin' me on. 'Sides, she's Akatsuki and I'm ANBU; it's what we're supposed to do." She said with a shrug even though she knew she really didn't have to, and that she never did much ANBU work anyways. She just needed a good excuse.

"I guess," Naruto said, half-heartedly. Both had the vision of his fight with Sasuke on the hospital roof-top floating around in their minds. It was just so déjà vu.

At that point, Aiko had walked in, yawning. "Morning lil bro and sis!" She said cheerily.

Clair rolled her eyes and Naruto chuckled lightly. Aiko poured herself a bowl of cereal and sat next to Naruto.

"Was I interrupting anything?" Aiko asked, glancing between Clair and Naruto.

"We were just talking about last night," Clair said with a shrug.

"Oh, I see," Aiko said. "So, what are we going to do about Miss Akatsuki?"

Naruto grumbled under his breath and neither Clair nor Aiko could decipher it. Aiko raised an eyebrow at him and Clair shook her head, slightly annoyed.

"Well, we should probably do something," Aiko said as she finished her cereal. She gathered Naruto's empty bowl and cleaned the dishes in the sink.

"Yeah, probably…" Clair said half-heartedly.

Aiko looked at her, confused. "I thought you'd be dragging her ass back to Konoha. What's up with you?"

"Yeah, me too…" Clair said dully.

"Than why not?" Naruto asked.

"She doesn't want to come back. Isn't it obvious?" Clair said. "So why waste our time?"

"Oh yeah, and she totally wants to be in Akatsuki," Aiko said sarcastically.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Clair asked, confused as she looked over at Aiko.

"If she really wanted to be in the Akatsuki, she wouldn't've let Naruto go," Aiko said.

Naruto raised his eyebrows, not catching on at all. Clair wasn't sure she understood either.

"Oh come on. You have to be heartless and just plain evil to be in the Akatsuki so you can kill carelessly," Aiko said. "She obviously didn't want to see you-" She looked at Naruto as she spoke, "-dead, so that means she's not completely heartless and evil. So, my guess is that ass dragged her into the Akatsuki with him," She said.

"Sasuke's not an ass," Naruto said stubbornly.

"Why do you still stand up for him?" Clair asked, staring at her boyfriend as if a mushroom had just sprouted between his eyes. "He's totally an ass."

Naruto grumbled again, and Clair shook her head at him. With a sigh, Aiko continued.

"I don't think it's a waste of time to go after her," She said. "'Cause what if she wants to come back? 'Sides, we want her back."

"Well it's unfair to her if she doesn't want to come back and we force her," Clair said.

"I still think we should try…" Aiko said, mostly to herself.

-

Trotting down the streets of Konoha, wolf-formed Lycan looked around cautiously at the passer-bys, who in return gave her a smile or a weird look, depending on if they knew her or not.

She was insanely bored; Kiba was on a mission and everyone else seemed to be busy. So, she entertained herself by walking around the village.

Passing by the ANBU HQ, she paused as a group of ANBU walked out, laughing and bragging to each other. At first it didn't even faze her, but she froze when she heard one utter the word 'Akatsuki'. Intrigued – due to the recent news of her friend gone Akatsuki – Lycan decided to stick around and ease drop.

"No, I swear, she just ran right into me," One of the taller ANBU laughed.

"Let me get this straight," The ANBU next to him said, "an Akatsuki member ran straight into you, just like that. You weren't even looking for Akatsuki. And now you're being promoted?"

"Damn right!" The first one laughed. The rest of his buddies laughed too as they walked off.

Stunned, Lycan watched them for a while before taking off at full speed.

-

"What!?" Raidon exclaimed, nearly falling out of her chair.

"ANBU caught an Akatsuki girl!" Lycan repeated, frantically shaking her human-hands in the air.

"Well the only girls are Shi and that blue-haired girl, right?" Raidon asked.

"I don't know!" Lycan snapped.

"You should!" Raidon exclaimed.

"What?!" Lycan asked, dumb-founded. "How?!"

"'Cause of Deidara!" Rae said, sort of annoyed. "Doesn't he tell you anything?"

"I haven't talked to Deidara in a while!" Lycan said, ready to shake Rae by the collar.

"Well, did you hear anything about what she looked like?" Raidon asked, starting to get a little paranoid.

"No! I told you everything I heard." Lyc said.

"Crap," Rae hissed. She got up and started pacing around nervously while the older girl watched. Rae had started mumbling to herself incoherently as she walked in a circle around the couch.

"Let's just see if we can find out if it's really Shi or not," Rae finally said, looking at Lycan.

"Should we get the others?" Lycan asked.

Raidon shook her head. "If a whole group of us goes down there, it'll look suspicious. Let's just check to see if it's Shi, than we'll figure out what to do from there."

"Ok," Lycan said with a nod, they than rushed out the door and down to the Hokage Tower.

-

While Raidon made a distraction, Lycan snuck up to the Record's room as a fly. She flew in and looked around. When she was sure nobody else was there, she morphed back to her human form and started going through files.

She nearly screamed when Rae appeared, almost out of thin air.

"How'd you get in?" Lycan asked.

"The window," Rae said, jabbing her thumb at the window.

"Oh…" Lyc said, blinking.

"Never mind that, what'd you find?" Rae asked, scanning the documents with her Sharingan.

"Not much. You're better at this than I am," Lycan said, searching the papers the old fashioned way – one by one – while Rae breezed through files in a second.

"Found it!" Rae exclaimed, grabbing a piece of paper.

"What's it say? What's it say?" Lycan demanded, impatiently, like an eager little kid.

Rae read it in her head, searching for the right words. When she found them, she repeated them to Lyc, than handed her the document. It was an arrest warrant for Shizuka Nara. Another document said something about Shi being placed in jail, but Rae barely glanced at that one.

"Damnit!" Lycan snapped, putting the paper back in its folder.

"They got Shi," Rae said with a frown. She clenched her fists and swore. "Stupid ANBU."

The doorknob jangled and the girls looked up at each other, panicked. They quickly scrambled out the window, right as the Hokage walked in. They landed in the bushes with a disgruntled 'ouf'.

Hearing the slight commotion, Lady Hokage looked out the window. After assuring herself it was just the wind, she turned away.

Rubbing her head, Lyc grumbled under her breath and turned to Raidon, who wasn't looking all too happy.

"You okay?" Lycan asked her.

"I'm fine," She said bitterly as she got up and brushed herself off.

With her head cocked to the side, Lycan watched Raidon, who was pulling herself out of the bushes.

"Let's go tell the others," Rae said as she started heading out. Lycan morphed back to wolf-form, than followed her younger friend.

-

Rae had gone to Éclair's house and snagged Clair and Aiko while Lycan retrieved Kazumi. When all five had regrouped in Lycan's living room, Raidon gave them the news.

"ANBU arrested Shi.

"What?!" Clair, Aiko and Zumi asked in unison.

"She's in jail," Lycan said simply.

"How?" Kazumi asked.

"She ran into ANBU apparently," Lycan explained with a slight shrug.

"You mean, she just ran, 'SPLAT!' into ANBU, on accident?" Clair asked, not really believing it.

"Yup," Lycan said, nodding.

"Sounds like she gave up," Zumi noted sadly.

Aiko gave Clair an 'I-told-you-so' look, and Clair stuck her tongue out at Aiko. Lycan chuckled amused and Raidon cocked an eyebrow at them in confusion.

"So, what are we going to do?" Kazumi asked, ignoring Aiko and Éclair's oddity.

"What can we do? We can't bust her out," Clair said.

"Well, we gotta do something," Aiko said matter-of-fact-ly.

"Duh," Lycan added in.

"Than come up with something," Zumi said, her tone a little annoyed as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Aiko, Lycan and Raidon exchanged a glance while Clair rolled her eyes and Kazumi sighed. Clair was right, they couldn't just bust in and get her out, not to mention, like Zumi had pointed out, they didn't have a plan.

Chewing on her lip, Rae watched the other girls, hoping to see a spark of inspiration. She didn't see any. Nobody had an idea. With a frown, she looked down at the ground. Shizuka was an S-ranked criminal, she had kidnapped Naruto, and now she was in jail. What was there they could do? Part of Rae was a little angry that Shi had just ditched them like that, especially for the Akatsuki. But Sasuke had – sort of – done the same. It wasn't just that though; Rae wasn't ready to admit defeat. She wanted to believe Shi and Sasuke would come back.


	13. Are You Dead Yet?

_Enemy, take one good look at me  
eradicate what you will always be  
Tainted flesh, polluted soul  
Through a mirror I behold  
Throw a punch  
Shards bleed on the floor  
Tearing me apart but  
I don't care anymore  
Should I regret or ask myself  
Are you dead yet?_

Wake up, don't cry  
Regenerate to deny  
The truth, the fiction  
You leave a blindfold on your eyes  
Disclosure, self loathing  
This time you've gone too far  
Or could it be my nemesis  
That you're me?

"_Are You Dead Yet?" – Children of Bodom_

_--_

A loud 'bang' on the door and the sound of metal against metal caused her eyes to open slowly. Rolling onto her other side atop the lumpy, pathetic excuse for a cot, she looked towards the unforgiving metal door. Through a small rectangular slit in the door, a tray of food protruded, blocking light from the outside. She barely examined it, already knowing its contents; stale, hard bread and watered down soup with hardly any chicken or noodles, just soggy vegetables. Like the bread, the vegetables were also stale.

Despite the hunger pains that flashed in her stomach, she refused to eat. Not because she was being picky, but because she had no desire to eat. In other words, she'd lost the will to live. She was waiting to fall asleep and never wake up. Unfortunately, for her, this was just another attempt of indirect suicide that wasn't working. Indirect, because she refused to wrap a noose around her neck. She wanted it to be something subtle that could have been passed as a natural cause.

She turned her body over again to face the back wall. She missed her thick cloak that had been stripped away from her. She missed her clothes, but was thankful the prison clothes were so baggy. She still cringed every time she saw a flash of her skin. She knew her ribs poked through her skin as if they were trying to tear their way out. She knew her hips bones jutted out against her concave stomach. And although she hadn't seen a mirror, she could feel with her fingers, the way her cheek bones stuck out and how shallow her cheeks had become.

Blankly, she stared at the wall, trying to care pictures and thoughts into it with her mind, but her imagination had dulled. She couldn't visualize it the way she had once seen shapes in clouds. Finally, frustrated, she closed her eyes tightly, thinking herself a failure, as she had often in the last half-year.

Only half a year. He'd only been gone half a year. So why did it feel like just a yesterday? Why did it feel like a life time ago?

She blinked back tears as an image finally made its way into her thoughts and when she looked up, it was projected on the wall. A masked face that still showed his big heart.

She gasped, and the image was gone.

Just like him.

Her vision blurred and tears spilled over her lids, than across her face. She tried to stop the tears but shutting her eyes tightly, but they managed to squeeze their way out and down the path left by the previous unwanted tears.

Bitterly, she wiped the back of her hand across her eyes, trying to banish the salty liquid. But the tears continued to roll. She knew thinking about him would only make it worse, but he wouldn't leave her alone.

"Don't cry Baby Doll." His voice rang in her head and she watched the image like an old movie. "I've got you. It's ok," He said. She was wrapped in his arms tightly. Even though she'd been fifteen at the time, she looked like a child to herself. He stroked her hair lovingly and held her tightly as she cried.

"I won't ever leave you. I promise."

His voice chilled her to the bone. Startled, she looked around, hearing his voice like a whisper against her ear. What if this was all just a horrible nightmare? She'd wake up and find herself curled up against him, still asleep. His spiky gray heir would be in a mess across his face and atop his head as it always was in the morning. His arm would be draped across her waist and his chest against her back. Their legs would be intertwined slightly: her thing, pale legs against his very muscular calves. The sheets would be thrown across the floor as they had always ended up somehow. She could still feel the smooth skin on his cheek against her palm and his soft lips against hers as she kissed him good morning.

The image fled from her mind as a sob escaped her lips. Before she could stop it, she found herself sobbing hysterically. She didn't want her cries to be heard; how embarrassing. Here she was a heartless, ruthless, S-rank criminal – murderer even – and she was crying like a baby. Why did those images have to sneak up on her now? It was okay in the middle of the night and in the morning at base, because than Sasuke was the only one who heard it; and sometimes he didn't. But here, it wasn't acceptable.

Now, angry with herself, she tried to wipe away tears that continued to flow. Finally, her self-loathing exploded with a cry. She slammed her fist against the wall repeatedly until there was a bloody fist print against the wall. She watched the blood roll down the wall, than looked at her own fist. Blood seeped from her knuckles, down between her fingers. When she unclenched her dist, she saw blood roll along the creases of her palm. She flexed her fingers out and frowned as a new wave of blood rolled out and pain ran through her hand.

As she watched, a sick image crossed her mind, and she actually considered it. She wanted to open a vein and right on the wall with the crimson liquid within, but she didn't have anything she could use to cut her skin deep enough.

Frustrated, she wiped away the rest of the blood from her knuckles onto her pants. Her inability to quench the need to harm herself was making her furious. She wished she could just die already.

She turned sharply as the door knob jangled slightly than opened. The tray of food fell from its hole and made a mess across the floor. The light from outside temporarily blinded her and she had to squint to see the ANBU step over the spilled food and into the room.

He froze for a minute and stared at her through his animal-faced mask. Than he walked forwards. She glared at him and than cried out as he grabbed her roughly by the arm and pulled her up.

Using her other hand, she slammed her fist against his face, powerful even though she wasn't left-handed. He staggered back and swore, than grabbed both of her wrists so tightly he cut off the circulation to her hands.

"Don't touch me!" She yelled, kneeing him hard in the gut. He released his grip on her and doubled over in pain. Given the chance, she ran for the door. It would be easier to kill herself if she wasn't stuck in prison.

Though not a fast runner, she ran as fast as she could down the hall. She wasn't exactly sure where she was going, but she knew she had to stay away from ANBU.

As she ran, a shadowy cloak engulfed her body, making her look like a shadow on the wall. She rounded a corner, and ended up in a corridor with little lighting, which aided her in blending in.

It wasn't long until her breathing became harsh and harder. But she ignored it. She didn't care. She just wanted out of the stupid prison. But first, she had to get her stuff back.

She couldn't leave without her ring. Leader-sama wouldn't accept that. She ran down the halls, barely glancing through the doors at the other prisoners. She had to find where the warden was so she could get her ring. Sadly, there weren't any arrows pointing her in the right direction. She had to make do with wandering randomly, hoping her chakra would last long enough to keep her shadow cloak.

Halfway up a flight of stairs, an alarm sounded over head. Swearing to herself, she ran up the rest of the stairs, than around a corner. Quickly, she ducked behind a pillar as a squad of ANBU ran past.

Letting out a heavy sigh, she abandoned her hiding spot and continued down to the Warden's room. Even though she had no clue where it was, she was still going to look. It couldn't be that hard to find.

She continued her trek around the prison until she finally found an area that was better kept than the rest. She could only guess that meant the rooms were not jail cells anymore. Still in her shadow camouflage, she peeked into one of the rooms and saw a group of ANBU having a heated argument. It looked like a board room full of angry lawyers.

She dashed down the hall, occasionally glancing into open doors and windows. She finally found what appeared to be a large storage room, set aside from the others and locked. She simply slipped her shadow under the door and proceeded to open the door from the inside. When the door opened, she looked inside and found personal possessions from what must have been every prisoner in the building. Immediately, she set to work rummaging through assorted clothing pieces and other possessions for her cloak, headband and ring. With no success she turned to a sort of bin-type-contraption and threw open the latch than lifted the lid. She spotted her ring, right away, scattered amongst other pieces of jewelry. She slipped her ring on, than closed the lid and looked around again. Somewhere, an alarm was still sounding, but it barely reached her in the large 'supply' room.

Crossing the room she found a closet. Pulling open a heavy door, she found more articles of clothing thrown across the floor carelessly and piled up. With a frown she scanned through the pile than smirked as a red-splotched, black cloak appeared in her vision. She grabbed it, than quickly took her prison uniform and pulled the cloak on over her almost nude body. She buttoned it up tightly, thankful that it was almost three sizes too big on her; normally however, it was only two sizes too big.

Now just to find her head band.

On the far wall, she found a smaller bin labeled 'headbands'. Muttering about the jails stupidity, she reached in and grabbed hers.

She didn't bother looking for her kunais. There was probably a weapons room somewhere, but that would be a waste of time. Instead, she left the room and went on her way searching for the exit.

The exit ended up being a lot harder to find than her stuff. She'd grown weak from no food and using her shadow cloak too long, so instead she snuck around the old fashioned way; slowly and hidden.

It didn't last long though.

Exhausted, she leaned against a wall and looked around. She'd been running in circles. She couldn't find the exit. Pushing away from the wall, she made her way down another corridor and ran into a group of ANBU that had been trailing her,

Swearing, she spun smartly and started to run, but was knocked onto her stomach by a kick in the back. Landing face down, she grunted as she felt a weight atop her. Her wrists were pinned behind her back and she could feel the heel of a boot grinding against her spine.

"Caught yah, Akatsuki," A low voice snarled. She spat at the feet in front of her and told him to fuck himself. In return, she got a shattering kick to the face. With a gasp, blood rolled from the corner of her lip and her eyes stung with hot tears. She could already feel a bruise forming on her cheek.

She could hear the ANBU talking, but the words blurred and mixed together as if they were speaking another language. Her eyes closed, and than she was out cold.


	14. Born For This

_Oh no I just keep on falling  
(Back to the same old…)  
Where's hope when misery comes crawling?  
(oh my way-ay)  
With your faith you'll trigger a landslide  
(victory)  
To kill off this common sense of mine_

_Right now you're the only reason  
(I'm not letting go, oh…)  
and I'm out if everyone's worth pleasing  
(wa ah)_

"_Born For This" – Paramore_

-_-_

Trudging down the halls of the ANBU headquarters, a very bored Éclair looked around for Jake and John, in need of something to do. She passed by the captains' room and stopped, hearing a very heated debate taking place. At first, she was barely even concerned, but what caught her interest was her former teammate's name. With a disgruntled sigh, she pressed her ear to the door in hopes of figuring out what Shizuka had done this time.

"…not good enough…"

"…how could you slack off…"

"…not my fault!"

"Move her to…"

She could only pick up bits and pieces of the argument, but from what she did pick up, the idiots had messed up, again. She rolled her eyes, not surprised. _Idiots,_ she thought, straining to hear what was being said.

"How about…?"

"No, no, no!"

"…just move her…"

"…where the hell do we put…"

"…maximum security…."

"…no escape…"

A frown crossed her features as Clair ditched her position at the door. From what it sounded like, Shi had tried to escape.

A slight snicker escaped her lips. _You almost did it, too,_ she thought, wishing her friend had escaped. It was funny enough to see the captains in such a fluster, it would've been hysterical to see the hysteria that would've erupted, had the escape been successful. Not to mention, it would've been so much easier for them, herself and the rest of the group, if Shi had done all the work.

She ran out of the headquarters, and on a whim, to the prison. Hopefully Shi was still there.

When she got to the prison, the Warden let her right in, surprisingly. Probably because she was ANBU; and she had slid her mask on during the trip over.

She passed by him and into the room with the cells. She knew that the further back you went, the worse the criminals got. She zipped past the holding cells, than the dash-and-dinners and the bank-robbers, down to the serious criminals. It was amazing that an S-rank criminal, especially Akatsuki at that, was being held in a normal prison. Konoha was so weird.

Finally, she made it down to the appropriate jail cells. She asked one of the prison workers which cell Shizuka Nara was being held in. The worker pointed to the room and Clair set off. The cell was being guarded by an ANBU member.

"I'm here to relieve you of duty," She said mechanically to the other ANBU. He nodded and left. "Well that was easy," Clair muttered to herself as she grabbed the door handle, not surprised to find it locked.

_Of course._ Clair looked around for a key and realized she would have to take it from a worker. Probably by force. With a groan, she walked back to the worker she had passed by not to long ago.

As fast as she could, she streaked past him, almost a blur. She continued to run by him, nonstop.

He watched, completely confused and startled. He lunged for her once, but only catching air, he toppled to the ground and fell on his round stomach. By the time he pulled himself up to her feet again, Clair was gone. And so was the key.

Back at the cell, she unlocked the door and stepped in, than closed the door, than waited for her eyes to adjust to the very dim lighting of the room. Chained to the wall by her wrists – which were raised high above her head – sat Shi, her head bowed. Stepping closer, Clair realized she was asleep.

"Hey, wake up," She whispered, shaking Shi's shoulder.

Shi groaned groggily and shrugged Clair away, never once lifting her head or opening her eyes.

"It's me you lazy bum. Now wake up," Clair hissed, shaking both shoulders now.

"Clair, stop shaking me," Shi groaned half-heartedly, lifting her head lazily to look at the ANBU with what could be described as a look on the border line of glaring.

"Than wake up when I tell you to," Clair retorted.

Shi rolled her eyes and grumbled under her breath.

"So, you gonna tell me what the hell you did now?" Clair asked, crossing her arms over her chest as she watched her criminal friends.

Shi chewed on her lip, as if she wasn't sure how to answer the question, before actually answering;

"Well, I kinda kicked a puppy and stole a kid's balloon. Oh, and I threw my gum wrapper on the floor," She said sarcastically.

"Oh, you're so evil," Clair said, equally sarcastic. "Ok, what the fuck did you really do?"

"Ran into ANBU, got thrown into jail. Tried to escape, and got caught." She jangled her wrist-shackles to emphasize 'caught'.

"How'd you let them catch you?"

"I didn't _let _them catch me," Shi shot back hatefully, even though she knew she really had let them. She wasn't going to openly admit that to anyone.

Clair threw her hands up in front of her defensively. "Ok, ok! Jeez!"

"Sorry," Shi sighed. "Guess I wasn't hiding as well as I thought."

"Apparently," Clair said, rolling her eyes.

"What are you doing her anyways?" Shi asked abruptly as she watched the younger girl.

"Making sure you haven't killed yourself," Clair said with a shrug, trying to feign an uncaring look, to make it as light as she possibly could, even though it wasn't really a light topic with either girl.

Shi looked away bitterly and Clair frowned. So much for staying away from the serious side of the subject.

"You tried." It wasn't a question. It was a statement. Both knew the answer anyways.

"Yeah, well, so have you," Shi said, shrugging.

"I have reason to. You don't," Clair said.

"Bullshit!" Shi snapped, attempting to lunge at Clair, but her shackles pulled her back to the wall.

"Shhh!" Clair hissed, placing a finger over her lips as she glanced over her shoulder at the door, praying nobody had heard.

"Yeah, yeah," Shizuka said, wincing at the pain in her wrists and shoulders. She made a mental note to not try that again.

"How do you eat in that thing?" Clair asked, eying the shackles.

"I don't," Shi said. "They tried feeding me, so I kicked the guy in the balls," She said with a slight smirk. "I think they're glad they don't have to feed me. And they're probably hoping I'll starve," She said as if it was no big deal.

"You look like you're being starved," Clair said matter-of-factly as she looked at the chained girl in front of her. The prison clothes hung from her as if from a skeleton.

"I am being starved genius," Shizuka said bitterly, rolling her eyes as she spoke, making Clair feel like dirt.

"Well you did push them away." Clair snapped back. "Next time they try to feed you, just let them. It's better that way."

Shizuka sighed and shook her head. After a brief silence she looked up at Clair.

"That was the first time they tried to feed me. That was three days ago."

Understanding flashed through Clair's eyes and she mouth formed a silent 'oh…'. She frowned, than froze as the sound of footsteps approached.

"Hang on, I'll be right back," Clair said. Before Shi could respond, Clair left the room.

With a sigh, Shi closed her eyes and let her head slouch forwards as she drifted back to sleep.

-

The smell of food- and decent, not rotten or moldy food at that - brought her back to consciousness. When she opened her eyes, she could Clair waving a bowl of steaming ramen under her nose.

Immediately her mouth watered.

"Just let me unlock you first," Clair said, producing a key from her pocket. Quickly, Shi's arms were freed.

With a sharp intake of breath, she stretched her sore limbs and rubbed her shoulders. Than, remembering the food she looked at Clair with an eyebrow raised.

"Eat," Clair commanded, offering the bowl to her.

With a nod, Shi grabbed the bowl and started eating greedily. She devoured the noodles and soup in record time. Even faster than Naruto's time. Clair was almost afraid she'd choke.

"Better?" Clair asked, as Shi wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. She nodded and said a very grateful 'thank you'.

"No prob'," Clair said, shrugging it off as if smuggling food for an S-rank criminal, as well as stealing the keys were no big deal.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" Shizuka asked, watching Éclair intently.

"You kinda are my friend, believe it or not," Clair said, rolling her eyes.

"But we're enemies," Shi said with a frown. "I'm Akatsuki and you're ANBU. I kidnapped Naruto."

"But you also let him go," Clair jabbed in.

"I attacked you," Shi added.

"I attacked back," Clair said, almost smugly.

"I left you guys," Shi said, determined to find a way for Clair to hate her.

"So did Sasuke. And Naruto kinda did too," Clair shot back.

"Neither one of them immediately joined Akatsuki."

"So?"

"You're being unusually nice. You hated Sasuke's guts for leaving," Shi said, not mentioning that Clair had never really liked Sasuke in the first place. Still, she was determined to prove her point.

"You're not a dick-head like duck-butt," Clair said with a slight shrug.

Shi chuckled lightly, and Clair smiled, glad to see a glimpse of her old friend again. The seriousness and tension of the situation was a bit frustrating and, to be blunt, not the way their relationship had been before. It was just strange, for both of them. The crack in the hostility was a relief.

"Still, you're being weird. Are you sick or something?" Shi asked, teasingly.

"I'm always sick," Clair said, with a slight chuckle.

Shi rolled her eyes as she shook her head, not quiet up for their usual attempt to raise the other's self-esteem. Both knew it was always fruitless.

"And I'm not being weird," Clair added in.

"Uhh… hell-o!" Shi said, emphasizing each syllable of 'hello', "Last time I saw you, we were beating the crap out of each other. Now you're bringing me food. Is your bipolar boyfriend rubbing off on you?" She asked with a slight smirk.

This time, Clair rolled her eyes. "I'm not going bipolar on you. Just now I know you let Naruto escape."

Shi shrugged, not wanting to bring up the very tense confrontation she had with Sasuke for it, and how angry Leader-sama was going to be. She was as good as dead in his eyes.

"You better not get in trouble because of me," Shizuka said, quickly attempting to change the subject.

"I won't, jeez," Clair groaned, rolling her eyes.

"Good," Shi said, carefully watching the door.

"They have plans to move you to a different prison apparently," Clair said, watching the other girl, who didn't return her gaze.

"Yeah, I know that," She sighed.

"Maximum security," Clair added bluntly.

"Lucky me," Shi said, her voice dripping sarcasm.

Clair frowned slightly, watched her former teammate. Shizuka had her gaze glued to the door, poised for a possible threat to Clair's safety. Not her own, but her ex-teammate's.

"You know, they use torture," Clair said quietly. Shi made no sign that she had heard. She kept staring blankly at the door.

"Are you even listening to me?" Clair demanded, slightly annoyed.

Shi nodded.

"I said they—"

"Torture, I know," Shi interrupted sharply. Her gaze hardened and her face became very cold. But she continued to stare at the door. Although her face and expression had changed very subtly, it made the whole difference. What had once very thin version of Clair's former teammates was now a young woman who could definitely fit into prison, as well as the Akatsuki. Just from the harsh gleam in her eyes and the way her jaw was set.

"They're going to torture you; anything they can just to get information about the Akatsuki out of you," Clair said.

"I'll lie," Shi said, uncaring.

"Well yeah, that's the point," Clair said, rolling her eyes. "But it's gonna hurt like a bitch."

"Oh well," Shi's tone was flat and dull.

Clair groaned and shook her head. Of course she was going to be difficult. But with something like this? She was about to say something when she caught a yawn escape from her friend's lips.

"Tired?" She asked.

"I'm fine," Shi said, brushing away the comment.

"Just get some sleep you lazy bum. I'll bring you food tomorrow."

"Don't." Her tone hardened immediately, abandoning the life-less-ness and picking up a harsh-ness instead.

"And why not?" Clair demanded, placing her hands on her hips.

"I probably won't be here tomorrow."

"Oh…" Clair said, looking down. "Right…"

Shi closed her eyes and sighed. Clair watched as the other girl struggled to keep her eyes open. Her lids fluttered and nearly closed, before flying open again, until to continue the process. And each time, it took longer for her eyes to open again. She was bound to fall asleep at any moment.

"Go to sleep," Clair said, commanding her older friend, once again.

"Alright, but…" Shi trailed off as she looked down at her free-wrists, than up at the shackles that dangled menacingly from the wall, waiting to constrict her wrists again and bind her freedom.

"Those stupid things. Right," Clair groaned. "Sorry 'bout this," she said, taking Shi's wrists. She pulled them up than secured them back to the wall, putting her friend into that awful position yet again.

"Maybe escaping and than getting caught wasn't my best idea," Shizuka said, chewing on her lip as she looked up at her hands. Her attempt to bring even the slightest amount of humor to the situation fell flat, failing miserably.

"No shit, genius," Clair said.

"You're starting to sound like me," Shi chuckled weakly, now running on the last resort-high before her body completely crashed from exhaustion.

"Whatever," Clair said, rolling her eyes. "Just go to sleep."

"Yes ma'am," Shizuka yawned, than closed her eyes and was asleep in an instant.

Clair cleaned up the empty bowl of ramen, hid it away, and took one last look at her sleeping friend, than left the prison to go tell the rest of the group.

-

"Wait, so she escaped, but she didn't?" Lycan asked, thoroughly confused.

"Well, she escaped her cell, but not the actual prison," Clair explained.

"Oh, ok," Lycan said, smiling because she understood.

"But, now they're moving her to some heavy duty prison for the really dangerous criminals," Kazumi said.

"That tortures," Raidon added in, not liking the idea of torture.

"Yup." Clair nodded.

As soon as Clair got home, she had gathered up Lycan, Raidon and Kazumi – Aiko had been called back to Suna. They sat on the couch – some on the floor – in her living room, with Naruto lingering around and ease-dropping.

"Well, this is great," Kazumi said sarcastically.

"Wonderful," Raidon added in bitterly.

"I know," Clair sighed.

The four looked at each other and had a group groan, all in unison. As if things weren't hard enough.


	15. Dare You to Move

_Welcome to the fallout _

_Welcome to resistance _

_The tension is here _

_The tension is here _

_Between who you are and who you could be _

_Between how it is and how it should be _

_I dare you to move _

_I dare you to move _

_I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor _

_Like today never happened _

_Today never happened _

_Maybe redemption has stories to tell _

_Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell _

_Where can you run to escape from yourself? _

_Where you gonna go? _

_Where you gonna go? _

_Salvation is here _

"_Dare You to Move" - Switchfoot_

--

The day after her talk with Éclair, Shizuka was rudely awoken at five in the morning and transported to a different jail. As soon as she was hurled into a cell, nearly three hours after she had left her previous cell, she went back to sleep, exhausted. She'd been hassled about, fussed over, examined thoroughly – more thoroughly than anybody was comfortable with – and finally taken to a cell. Not even two hours into this new jail experience and she knew they meant serious business and knew how to deal with S-ranked criminals. They even handled her cloak, headband and ring as if they were poisonous explosives. She wished they were.

They didn't bring her breakfast or lunch, but dinner was in fact served. She was awake when three ANBU came to her room. Thinking they had come for something unpleasant, she had ignored them, until she noticed a tray of food set in front of her, and her hands were freed from the shackles.

"You have thirty minutes," One of the ANBU said, gripping the handle of a very large sword at his waist. The two other ANBU left the room and stood guard at the door, while the one ANBU remained in the room with her.

"So, you're going to stay in here for thirty minutes… To make sure I eat and not try to escape?" She asked, eyeing the ANBU strangely.

He just nodded.

"Right…" She made a face, than grabbed the food in front of her. It wasn't stale! She devoured it all down before her thirty minutes were up.

"Say, would it be too much to ask for me?" As if on cue, her stomach growled loudly.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," The ANBU said, very un-sympathetically.

"Of course not." Shi sighed.

Sore and stiff, she rose to her feet and stretched, looking very cat-like with her long, thin limbs. With one eye, she shot a glance over at the ANBU and thought she saw his eyes, through the eye holes, staring back at her. She knew it was his job to make sure she didn't attempt anything, but she felt like there was more of a reason to his intent stare.

Sticking her hands into the pockets of the orange jumpsuit, she cocked her head to the side and examined him, trying to pick up any familiarities she could find, despite the ANBU disguise that masked his identity.

"What?" He asked sharply.

"You ANBU are so mechanical and boring," She said, rolling her eyes.

He didn't respond.

"You're not going to tie me back up and go on your way?"

He shook his head.

"You're gonna waste a half hour of your day like this? Yeesh!" She exclaimed, shaking her head. "Do you do this to everyone?"

"Well, being that you almost escaped in such a manor, you are a special case and need extra security."

"Oh come on!" She groaned. "This is a prison full of S-rank criminals! I'm willing to bet I'm not the only one that's attempted to escape."

"No, but you are the only Akatsuki here," He said flatly.

"Touché." She shrugged. "What's the weirdest criminal you've ever met?" She asked, bored out of her mind.

He didn't answer.

"You're boring." She blew her bangs out of her face as she spoke. "I can't even have a conversation to try and make the last, what, twenty-five minutes of your time stuck here some-what survive-able." Annoyed, she chewed on her lower lip and watched him.

"Why bother having a conversation with your enemy?" He asked.

"Well, I'm bored, and you're bored. There you go. But it is also wise to know your enemy. 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.'"

He seemed to ponder this for a moment, than nodded.

"You," He said simply.

"Huh?" She asked, dumbfounded.

"You asked me the weirdest criminal I've ever met. You are, easily," He said with a shrug. Still, hardly any emotion to his voice. Mechanical.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" She asked skeptically, mostly to herself.

"Whatever you want to see it as," He said. "I expected you to be… different. I've never met a criminal who tried to even talk to me before. Most won't look at me, and the others would just glare."

"True," He nodded. "You got me there, Akatsuki."

"I have a name, ANBU," She hissed with a frown.

"And so do I, but I can't tell you," He said.

"Okay than, I'm going to call you…" She mused to herself for a moment before deciding. "Leonardo."

"Leonardo?"

"Like Da Vinci," She clarified.

"Ok than. Do you get a nickname, or your real name?" He asked.

"My name's easier. Although, I'd like to be a Joan."

"Why Joan?"

"'Cause of Joan of Arc." She said with a slight smile. Of all the historical women, Joan of Arc was her favorite. She beat out Cleopatra and Hatshepsut, but maybe not Sacagawea. Joan was just easier to remember than Sacagawea.

"You read a lot, don't you?" He asked, finding reading the only logical way to sum up her strange liking for Da Vinci and Joan of Arc.

"Probably more than most kids my age," She said non-chalantly.

"How older are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Eighteen and you're already an S-ranked criminal?" He asked, stunned.

"I was a Jounin before I became Akatsuki," She said, trying to see through his mask. She felt comfortable talking to him and his voice was strangely familiar. She felt as if she had known him before, but she just couldn't place how she had.

"Impressive. What's your name?"

She did a double-take, and stared at him confused. When she realized he was serious, she raised her eyebrows. "You mean you don't know?"

"Not really." He shook his head. "I was just told to go watch the new prisoner in room 53." Room 53, she liked the ring to that. "I wasn't told your name. I was told you were Akatsuki and broke free from your previous jail."

"Oh, that's stupid," She said, rolling her eyes. She had imagined they would have figured it out, eventually. Oh well. "I'm Shizuka Nara."

He was silent for a moment and she sighed with a dread. She imagined he would give her the 'Oh, you were on Team Seven' thing that everyone always gave her when they found out who she was. Yes, she was the other Team Seven member that had left Konoha. How ironic it was that the 'dynamic' team had been split in half so cruelly. Her and Clair had never been able to figure out why they had become so famous for being such a dysfunctional team. Not to mention, when they heard her name, they remembered 'that was the girl Hatake Kakashi was in love with'. That was the part she hated the most. Yes, after he died, she ran away to the Akatsuki. At the point in time, they usually frowned upon her at that point in time.

Surprisingly, that wasn't his reaction.

"I knew a Shizuka Nara once. She was just a little girl though," He said, his voice distant. "My wife and her mother had been very close friends."

"Funny," Shizuka mused to herself, out loud, "I've never met another person with my name." She turned to him and cocked her head to the side. "How long ago was this?"

He thought it over for a moment before answering. "Fourteen, maybe thirteen, years ago."

She would've been roughly four or five. "What… What was her mother's name" She asked, hesitantly. She was positive he was thinking of another little girl, but it felt too much like a coincidence for her to not investigate further.

"Sarai."

Her heart stopped. That was her mother's name. When her heart started pumping again, she tried to swallow the lump in her throat, but the attempt was fruitless. "A-and did Sarai have other kids?"

"Yeah," He said with a nod, starting to catch on to her uneasiness. "Shizuka had a twin sister, Yumiko, and a little brother-"

"Reizo," Shi said, finishing for him. By that point, her whole body was trembling. She had known him. She had known him when she was a little girl. And that's why he had been staring at her earlier; he had recognized her.

Although she couldn't see his face, she was ashamed to know he was probably shocked. If only she could actually see his face and find out his name, but she knew he was already going to get in trouble for revealing even that much about himself.

He was just about to say something more when the door opened and one of the guards muttered that the thirty minutes was up. He nodded and went back to being boring ANBU again. He walked over to her and she let him chain her back to the wall. As he did so, he promised to be back in the morning with breakfast. Than, he took the empty tray and left.

-

He woke her the next morning with a bowl of already soggy cereal and an apple. She ate quickly, forgetting to savor the food. She just needed to shut up her growling stomach. As soon as she finished her meal, they went back into the previous night's conversation.

"I thought you had died after the fire…" He said numbly.

She shook her head. "My mother, sister and brother did. My father and I survived." She bitterly hissed out the word 'father'. She didn't feel that he deserved the title 'dad'. She didn't show any endearment to her mother either, but it was her father that had the obvious hatred. He was nothing like her uncle, Shikaku, who had become her 'daddy'.

"What happened to your dad?" He asked, hesitantly, seeing her obvious distaste for the man.

She shrugged. "Don't know; don't give a fuck."

"You don't care about your father?" He asked, stunned to hear the girl he had known as a child, swear so harshly about her father.

"He didn't care about me, so why should I care about him?" She asked in response.

'Leo' decided to change the subject. "What happened after the fire?" He asked.

"I spent two months in the hospital," She said, remembering waking up in a hospital bed, wrapped tightly in bandages. Her arms had been completely covered in them, as well as her chest. As a six year old, it had scared her so bad she had tried to cry out for her sister, only to find she couldn't speak. And than, she remembered her sister was dead. That's when she broke into hysterical fits of silent sobs. It had been horrible. It was the first time she remembered wishing she wouldn't wake up. Her brother and sister were dead. Her best friends were dead. She had loved them more than anything on earth, and just like that, they were gone. The pain of losing them had never fully healed. There was just something traumatic in seeing the dead bodies of her siblings at such a young age that still haunted her. And because of it, she was deathly afraid of corpses.

"Do you miss them?" He asked, pulling her back to reality.

"That's a stupid question," She said, turning away from him. "I don't think there is a day that I don't miss them…"

He frowned and looked at the ground. "What about your mother?"

"Fuck her," She said bitterly.

He sighed and waited for her explanation, but she remained silent for a long time, even though they were on a time limit.

"You know what I learned from my parents?" She asked, not expecting an answer. "Happy endings don't exist. It is possible to lose your innocent at the age of two or three. And just because you're parents, doesn't mean you have to care about your kids. It is okay to fuck them over.

"They always fought, and they never made an attempt to hide it. We knew all the 'bad' words by the time Yumi and I were six. Reizo was only three. He also learned people can be very selfish. Mostly, my parents saw their problems, than they remembered we existed. We learned that if they were both at home at the same time, there would be a fight. So we were always scared when ever which ever one had been gone, came home. We used to run to my Uncle's, crying, before the fights even started. My parents probably never noticed we were gone.

"One time, dad came home the day mom was going to take us grocery shopping. The got in a fight, and mom left for a week. My dad didn't know what we ate, so we went hungry. The first time Yumi and I ever stole anything was that week. We had just turned five. Yumi and I started stealing food from the market so the three of us could eat. One day, we got caught and Uncle had to pay for what we had stolen. At first he was mad, because he thought we were being delinquents, because we understood we were stealing, but we told him we were hungry, and there was no food. So he took us home and found that there wasn't any edible food in the house. That's when he took us to his house and told his brother, my father that he would not return us until the house was supplied with food, or until my mother came back. She came back first."

She stopped to wipe her eyes. In the back of her mind, she knew she was spilling her guts to an ANBU, but he was more than that. He had been a family friend. Although she hated anything to do with her parents, she knew many of her parents' friends had helped them through the 'pre-divorce stage' (as she called it, even though they never got a divorce) and many had visited her and sent her cards and stuffed animals when she was in the hospital. She didn't mind spilling her guts to him. Oddly enough, she trusted him.

"I knew your parents were having a rough time, but I never realized how hard it was on you three." He sighed. She said nothing.

"I remember, when you were a little girl, you always used to smile and wave at older men." He chuckled. "Your mother had been carrying you and your sister and you had waved at me. My wife knew your mother, but I'd only seen you once." She blushed. "You always had a great memory."

"I recognized your voice last night," She said sheepishly.

"Like I said, you always had a good memory. You're a smart one." She could almost hear him smile.

"I can't be that smart, if I'm here," She said quietly.

He sighed. "Everyone has their own pace to get onto the right track. You'll straighten out eventually."

She looked away.

Their thirty minutes ended and he left. She went into a depression for the rest of the day. When he brought her dinner, she wouldn't eat or speak to him. He let her got to sleep without chaining her up.

When she woke the next morning, some other ANBU brought her food. She refused to eat, even when she did find out that they decided chaining her to the wall was pointless.

Right after 'breakfast', a group of ANBU dragged her out and into another room that she immediately hated and would later dub 'Hell'. That was the first day she had felt the lash of the whip across her back. And it was her first day of enduring the government's methods to get her to reveal her Akatsuki secrets.


	16. Hurt

_You told me how proud you were but I walked away  
If only I knew what I know today_

_I'm sorry for blaming you for everything I just couldn't do  
And I've hurt myself by hurting you_

_Would you tell me I was wrong?  
Would you help me understand?  
Are you looking down upon me?  
Are you proud of who I am?_

"_Hurt" – Christina Aguilera_

_--_

She was brought dinner that night, but it wasn't 'Leonardo' that brought her food. She was starting to think he had tricked her. Why had she trusted him? He was ANBU and she was Akatsuki. Just because he had somehow fit into her past, she had let him in. How stupid of her. She went to bed angry and hurt, both mentally and physically.

When she woke up the next morning, her back was stiff and there was blood on her sheets and prison clothing. They hadn't even cleaned her up after trying to whip the answers out of her. They finally stopped when they realized the method wouldn't work. Leader-sama had trained each and every member to resist torture.

She wasn't given breakfast and immediately they took her away to 'Hell'. She was stripped of her prison clothes – left only in her undergarments – and the gashes across her back, still fresh, were exposed.

"Are you going to save yourself some misery and tell us where the Akatsuki base is?" A gruff asked. She'd learned he was the one in charge, but he never did any of the work himself. She also learned he liked to use barbaric methods rather than bring in the Yamanaka clan to just extract the secrets from her head. Or maybe he was just too stupid to even consider it.

"No," She said stubbornly.

She braced herself for the whip again, but instead a bucketful of water – salt water - was poured onto her back. The salt stung the fresh marks across her back. She bit her lip to fight back a scream as the salt burned under her skin. She refused to give them the satisfaction of hearing her scream.

"How about know?" The leader asked.

"No," She hissed through clenched teeth, back still stinging viciously.

"Alright then, let's try something else," He said. With a snap of his fingers, two giant men approached her. One chained her ankles down and the other used chains hanging high from the ceiling to secure her in place. Pain shot through her shoulders and upper back as her arms were held in the up-raised position.

She watched through narrowed eyes as a very lean man made his way towards her. He had a twitchy, uncomfortable look. His beady eyes darted around nervously, like he didn't want to be here.

He pressed his palm against her stomach, and she opened her mouth to yell at him. How dare he touch her! But the words faded from her lips with a gasp than turned into a scream as a jolt of lightning passed through her body. When he pulled his hand away, she gasped and panted for breath, her body still trembling from the shock.

"Where is the Akatsuki base?" The gruff man asked, but Shi kept her mouth shut. "Again," He said to the lanky man.

He reached out to touch her stomach again, but she sucked in her gut and arched her back, pulling away from him, but he grabbed her, with both hands. The jolt that coursed through her body was twice that of the last one, causing her to scream even louder.

"Who is the leader of the Akatsuki?" The gruff voice asked.

"The new god," She said shakily, after her screams had died down.

The leader's face did not show any frustration, but instead remained calm and collected. He'd done this before many, many times. He turned to the other man and nodded.

This time, the lanky man placed his hand against her collarbone. The jolt was even worse than the last one and she let out a blood curling scream. He immediately flinched away, obviously uncomfortable with what he was doing; he was too soft hearted for it, but he had the right ability.

Seeing his apprehension, the leader sent him away, than turned to his captive with a frown. Her head was slumped over, and she was motionless, except for the shaky, but steady, rise and fall of her chest.

He shook his head with a sigh and ordered the two large guards to take her back to her cell. Whey they unbound her, she fell limply to the floor. They lifted her, a dead weight, and put her prison clothing back on before her dragging her back to her cell. They threw her onto the hard ground, than locked the door and left.

When the sound of the foot steps receded, she pushed herself up and mumbled under her breath along the lines of 'idiots actually believed it'. Weakly, she stumbled to her cot, than collapsed onto the hard and lumpy excuse for something to sleep on. The salt in her back had long since been forgotten by the jolt of electricity – lightning, whatever it was – that still throbbed weakly through her body. She had expected to be starving, but her stomach was so twisted up, she had to go to the corner of the room and hurl what was left in her stomach, which was the equivalent to nothing. It was dry, and mostly vile.

-

"Hey, wake up."

With a groan, Shi lifted her lids and looked up at an ANBU mask. It was 'Leonardo' with food. She pushed him away and closed her eyes again. She was still feeling betrayed. She wanted nothing to do with him.

"You need to eat," He said.

"I'll just throw it up." She said half-heartedly.

"There's a medic nin here to fix that," He said.

She opened her eyes again and looked around. Behind Leo stood another ANBU, which she hadn't been aware of earlier. She frowned, hoping the other ANBU hadn't picked up on the hospitality Leo showed towards her.

"A medic nin?" She asked confused. Why would they heal her?

"So you're strong for the next try," The medic said, answering the unspoken question.

Shi just rolled her eyes and grunted as she sat up. The medic came over and Leo turned away as he unzipped the top of her jumpsuit enough to expose more than modesty allowed. Than, the medic started healing her.

"You know, the strip search and the whole, showing my bra and underwear to everyone is really uncomfortable," She said as the whip marks on her back were healed.

"Sorry. It's a prison, not a hotel," Leo said. She was glad at least he was giving her a little privacy. She wasn't bothered so much with a medical ninja because he was a doctor, but she didn't want this other man to see her practically naked. At least she wasn't completely exposed. She was thankful for that.

The three remained silent for a long time as she was healed. After her back, he healed her stomach and told her to eat. She zipped her prison garb back up and gave Leo the OK, than started eating.

The medical nin lingered, watching her, before turning to leave. From behind, she noted his long white ponytail with shock. Her hands were still shaking after he was gone.

"Eat," Leo encouraged her, noting how spooked she looked. With a nod, she obeyed.

When she finished eating, he handed her a folder than took her tray and left the room.

With a frown, she looked down at the folder, than turned it over. On the cover was a note;

_Shizuka,_

_I don't know your father all that well, but I do remember he was a very kind man. It's not good to spend your life hating your parents. I can't change your opinion on either one, but I hope this helps to shed some light on your father._

_Your friend,_

'_Leonardo'_

Just knowing that it was about her father, made her hurl the folder away in disgust. Why would she want to know about that had taught her hunger and taught her to steal? He was also the man who had never been there and when he had, it had meant fights at night. He was also the one who had left her after she'd seen her siblings die.

She left the folder lying on the floor and stared at the wall. She hated him. She didn't want to have anything to do with him. But a memory kept resurfacing.

She was four; her little brother barely a year old. At the time, the fighting had been mellow and secret. Things were still fairly okay. He was carrying little Reizo in his arms, with Shi attached to his left leg, Yumi his right.

"How about a cookie?" He asked, smiling down at the twins. They both cheered an 'okay' and he chuckled, than walked them down to the bakery.

Once inside, the toddlers ran to the display case and eagerly pressed their palms and faces against it, examining each cookie, looking for the perfect one.

"Can we have that one daddy?" Shi asked, pointing to a sugar cookie with blue and purple frosting.

"Of course Baby Doll," He said with a smile. His face was a blur to her now. She imagined his face to look like a younger, scar-less Shikaku, even though she knew he didn't look exactly like his older brother. She was pretty sure he had small, dark eyes and dark hair in a ponytail like her uncle. It was from their mother that they had received brown hair, and in Reizo's case, green eyes. Yumi and Shi had gotten their blue eyes from their grandfather on their mother's side.

He bought them their cookie and watched as a proud father while they devoured it. Reizo was sound asleep in his arms.

"Daddy?" Shi asked.

"Yes?" He looked over at his daughter.

"We're going to have another little brother, right?" She asked.

"Where did you hear that?" He asked. Sarai wouldn't get pregnant for another two years, and it wouldn't be Iwoa's child.

"Mommy said she wanted four kids and another boy," Shi said meakly, feeling as if she had done something wrong.

"We'll see sweetie," He said, kissing her forehead.

She smiled and finished her half of the cookie.

-

Looking over at the folder on the floor, Shizuka felt slightly intrigued. She still hated him, but now she wanted to know more about the man she had once called 'Daddy'. And, she wanted to learn about the man who had originally called her 'Baby Doll' before Kakashi adopted the nickname for her.

She picked up the folder, than sat down on her bed again and opened it.

It was his file. The first page had his full name, his birthday, height, weight, family, blood type, occupation, and so on and so forth. But that wasn't what stood out to her. What stood out was his picture, clipped onto the side. She pulled away the paper clip and held up the picture with the folder resting in her lap.

He looked like Shikaku, but much younger and much nicer. What shocked her was how much he looked like her. Or really, how much she looked like him. Had she been given his dark hair and eyes, she could've been him as a girl. She had his nose, his mouth, and even his fine eyebrows. Her eyes were a little bigger than his, but they were very similar. She'd never known before how much she looked like him. She always though she looked more like her mother because of her brown hair and colored eyes.

Clipping the picture back in, she looked at the file itself. He'd been a Jounin, trying to become ANBU. He'd been thirty-seven when he went missing after the fire.

The file wasn't extremely long; it gave his background, his accomplishments, note-able missions, his life, etc. She was willing to bet her file was bigger than his.

She turned the page and gasped at what she saw. A large photo was thrown in between the pages, faded and burnt. When she picked it up, it was brittle and looked ready to fall apart. The picture was mostly faded from heat exposure. Iwoa and Sarai were not visible; just blurs of color. However, a faded Reizo smiled at the camera as he was sandwiched between his older sisters, who hugged him tightly. Yumi's face was lit up in a closed-eyed grin. Shi's however, was a shy smile that showed no teeth, but did show her big blue eyes.

It was a family portrait that had survived the fire.

Carefully, she traced her index finger over the images of her twin sister and her little brother. With a sigh, she closed her eyes and hugged the picture to her chest. Wishing she could her siblings, rather than just a photograph of them, she put the picture down and noticed a drop of some sort of liquid on the picture. Touching her face, she realized she was crying.

Quickly, she wiped away the tears, than went back to reading about Iwoa Nara.

She passed through the papers and went straight to the back of the folder and started reading.

It told of the fire and how he and his daughter had been the only survivors. Although she had been hospitalized, he would not check into the hospital and would later vanish. His body was found a month before Shi was released from the hospital.

_I know that already, _Shi thought impatiently. _Why'd he leave and how did he die?_

She flipped the page again and found a newspaper article attached. The headline read, "Fight for young girl takes father's life".

Her heart skipped a beat. The article read;

Last month, a fire swept through Konoha, taking the lives of the pregnant Sarai Nara, six year old Yumiko Nara and three year old Reizo Nara. One survivor, six year old, Shizuka Nara, was hospitalized with third degree burns and was said to be in critical condition. She is now recovering.

However, thirty-seven year old Iwoa Nara refused to be hospitalized and promptly disappeared. However, a body found last week has been identified as his, and his killer has now been taken into custody.

The suspect was identified as a young man Iwoa's wife had been having an affair with before her death. After being taken to court for man slaughter, he was found guilty.

Investigations finally unraveled the truth behind Iwoa Nara's death. Right after the fire, Iwoa's killer – who has asked to keep his name private – hunted down his girlfriend's surviving daughter, in hopes of having something left of the deceased Sarai. Some how, Iwoa found out about the attempt and approached the man, ordering him to stay away from his daughter. The two men got into a struggle, which would later cause Iwoa's death to untreated burns from the fire.

When the judge learned of this, the man was not only sentenced for manslaughter, but also ordered a restraining order against Shizuka Nara, who has been placed in her Uncle's care.

The rest of the article had been ripped off, but that's all she could have read anyways. By the time she was done with the article, she was shaking and crying. He hadn't abandoned her; he had died for her.

She would never be able to forgive herself for having hated him almost her whole life. Now she understood how Sasuke felt towards Itachi. It was bitter sweet.


	17. Pain

_Now I can see your pain, I'm sorry  
(good bye)  
I cry so hard_

_I'm breaking, I'm feeling_

_I'm shaking, I'm reeling  
My god I keep bleeding_

_I watch the world die through crimson eyes  
I cry, it turns to night_

"_Pain" – Hollywood Undead_

--

Sneaking three, non-ANBU into an air-tight, maximum security prison was nearly impossible. Getting in herself wasn't going to be easy, so how was Clair supposed to get Lycan, Raidon and Kazumi in too? She'd tried to convince them out of it, but they wouldn't listen. They'd been furious that she had sneaked in to see Shi without them. When they found out Shi had been moved to another prison, they started to fret and wanted to see her more than anything.

"You guys! I can't get you in! I doubt I could even get in," Clair groaned.

"But she's in the top ranked prison! She doesn't belong there and we want to talk to her!" Raidon demanded.

"Raidon! She's s-rank Akatsuki! I doubt she's crying like a lost puppy," Clair said harshly.

"Well, we still need to talk to her," Kazumi said, putting her hands on her hips and staring Clair down.

"Fine, you can go try and talk to her and get arrested for entering the prison illegally," Clair retorted.

"Hey! No fighting!" Lycan said, looking at the other girls.

"Well, we need to get in somehow," Raidon said, moving the subject away from Clair and Zumi's argument.

"Lycan and I could probably sneak in," Clair said, looking at the shape-shifter. "But I don't know how to sneak you two in," She said, turning her gaze to Raidon and Kazumi.

"Well, Lycan should sneak in as a bug, and Clair, you can get in through ANBU," Kazumi said, stating the obvious. "And maybe Raidon and I can steal prison worker outfits and sneak in that way."

"That might work," Raidon nodded.

"Alright. Have fun. Good luck," Clair said stiffly. "Try not to get caught."

"Oh just come on," Lycan said, snagging Clair's arm and pulling her away.

-

An obnoxious buzzing sound woke Shi. With a groan, she swatted at the bug, than pulled the covers over her head. Although it was the middle of the day, she was exhausted. She knew talking would be the easiest thing to do, but she didn't want to give the Leader the satisfaction of seeing her cave. Not to mention, she couldn't betray Sasuke and Sasori for some odd reason. Yes, she was mad at Sasuke, and yes, her past with Sasori was enough to give her plenty of reason to hate him, but she still felt guilty about the thought of betraying them. So, she continued to keep her mouth shut and took the beatings.

She heard the door swing open and immediately her body tensed. Again? They'd just dropped her back off in her room. Were they trying to kill her?

Someone grabbed her shoulder and immediately she turned and threw herself at them, tackling them to the ground. She wasn't going to deal with it twice in one day.

Pinning the prison worker down, she glanced over and saw another and an ANBU. She froze; there was no way she could take down all three of them. Ah crud.

When the ANBU started laughing hysterically though, her body tensed even more. She gave the ANBU a confused look. Than she noticed, the ANBU had reddish-brown hair with orange tips.

"Clair?!" Shi asked, dumb-founded. Even more confused, she looked down the worker she had pinned down, who was now cursing at her.

"Get off of me!"

"Rae? Oh my god you guys…" Shi snapped, ripping the prison mask off Raidon's face. Kazumi removed hers and Clair took off her ANBU mask as Lycan – the buzzing bug that had woken her up – morphed into her human self.

"Yeah, missed you too," Raidon grumbled. "Now get off!"

"Opps," Shi muttered half-heartedly as she got up slowly. As Rae pulled herself up, Shi leaned against the wall, than suddenly sank to her knees, holding her stomach. She swore under her breath and ground her teeth together.

"Shi? What's wrong?" Kazumi asked, alarmed. The two paranoid medical nins immediately started examining her.

"Nothing, just sore," Shi lied through her teeth, pushing them away.

"Liar," Clair accused, not at all convinced.

"I smell blood," Lycan added.

Raidon cringed, smelling it too. Kazumi however became more determined. She tried to examine Shi, but the Akatsuki wouldn't accept.

"Damnit, just let me heal you!" Kazumi put her hands on her hips and frowned at Shi.

"No!" Shizuka said stubbornly.

"Clair, Lyc, hold her back," Kazumi demanded, regretting that she had to force Shi this way.

With frowns, Lycan and Clair held onto Shizuka, telling her and themselves it was for the better. Than Kazumi pulled up Shi's sleeves as she squirmed around and tried to break free. Across her arms were cuts and bruises, but nothing major.

"Her stomach and back," Raidon suggested, Sharingan already active.

Kazumi nodded and bit her lip as she went to pull back the prison uniform so she could properly heal her friend, who continued to fight against them, desperately and weakly. Still, she was struggling enough.

"Hold still," Clair grumbled.

"We're trying to help," Kazumi pleaded.

"Let go! Let go! I'll scream and you'll get caught!" Shizuka threatened as she struggled against them.

"Just let her heal you! You're going to die of blood loss!" Raidon snapped, watching the slow and steady drain of Shi's chakra network.

"Fine; than not only will you guys get caught, but I'll die too," Shi whispered harshly.

"Let her go," Raidon said bitterly, glaring at the wall.

Lycan and Clair released their grip and Kazumi shrunk away. Right after, Shi doubled over, holding her stomach and she coughed, leaving a crimson splatter on the floor.

"Why won't you just let us help you?" Kazumi demanded.

"Think about it! If you do, than they'll know somebody has been coming in here, illegally, and helping me. They'll figure out who it is too," Shizuka said, her gaze sweeping back and forth over the faces of the four girls.

"Like we care. It's better than you dying," Kazumi said under her breath miserably.

"We could deal with it," Clair said, shrugging, trying to show that she didn't mind, but her eyes betrayed her.

"Yeah, I'd bite anybody who even tried to tell me we were wrong for helping you," Lycan added.

"Don't!" Shizuka snapped, scolding them as a school-teacher would scold her students. She cringed.

"That's it. I'm healing you," Kazumi said. Agreeing, Raidon came over to help.

"No! I'm not going to let you guys get in trouble because of me!" Shi said, pulling away from them. She held her stomach and grimaced. They could see the red stain spread across the orange prison outfit as well as the crimson that flowed through her fingers.

"And we're not going to let you bleed to death," Kazumi snapped. "So stop fighting us."

Raidon pulled Shi's hands away from her stomach as Kazumi pulled away the upper half of the jumpsuit. Kazumi's hands started to glow as she placed them against a gash on Shi's stomach.

"What can we do?" Lycan asked, feeling useless.

"You can-"

Shizuka cut Raidon off. "You guys, just stop," She said, shaking her head. "They're just going to find me healed and it's going to make things worse."

"But…" Kazumi looked at Raidon, searching for the right thing to do.

"She's right you know," Clair said.

A long silence dragged on. Raidon and Kazumi had given up healing her, but they had made a little progress. Shi pulled her prison outfit back in – without any dignity – hiding the ribs that showed through and the scars across her torso and back.

"There's a medical ANBU here with a white ponytail," She said, breaking the silence. The other girls looked at her utterly confused. "Sound familiar?" They store at her blankly. She sighed. "He wore glasses under his mask."

"It couldn't be." Kazumi's eyes widened with horror.

"And why couldn't it?" Clair asked, getting annoyed with the other girls.

"But how'd he get into the ANBU?" Lycan asked.

"Fake name and disguise probably." Raidon shrugged with a frown.

"But what does Kabuto have to do with this?" Kazumi asked.

"Criminal on the loose," Shi said shrugging.

"Yeah, we need to look out for him," Raidon said with a nod.

"Forget that ass," Clair said, turning to Shi. "We need you to tell us what happened to Kakashi."

They knew the question had to be asked, but they never imagined it in a prison cell. Shi immediately looked down, battered and broken. Pulling herself up, Shi slowly walked over to the cot and sat herself down. She closed her eyes and sighed. The other girls watched her carefully.

"We were returning from the mission. It had been really easy for us, so we were being very carefree on the way back. We were just talking and goofing off; just, totally not paying attention to anything, really.

"Well, as we were walking, he told me he though he had dropped something, so he was going to run back and get it. I offered to go with him, but he said 'no' and that he'd catch up in a minute, so, I kept walking. What I now know that I didn't than was, he had detected someone following us. He went back to confront whoever it was and thought he was protecting me by keeping me oblivious.

"But, I turned back to go help him 'look for his lost item'. When I got to him, he was fighting this strange man I'd never seen before. His head-band wasn't familiar. So, I helped Kakashi. He was upset I hadn't listened to him, but I didn't listen to him… He just kept telling me to run. He kept saying 'Get out of here, now!'… But I couldn't leave him like that.

"This guy was an amazing fighter. Even two against one, he was still a challenge. He was, indestructible. He had this weird jutsu that turned his skin to stone, and he fought with rocks and boulders. I'm making it sound kind of lame, but it was amazing. At one point he turned a normal rock into a sword. Than he came running at me with it. It ended up being a stone versus shadow fight. While I had him distracted, Kakashi came from behind him with his Chidori and slammed it into his back. But the guy had turned completely into stone; kind of like Gaara's ultimate defense, but stone instead of sand. The Chidori back-fired at Kakashi, so I went to help him.

"I was so blind… I was just making sure Kakashi was okay. The guy snuck up behind me and slashed me with his sword. I never saw it, just felt it. I'd almost been out of his reach, so it was like a giant paper cut across my back. But it was enough…

"Kakashi yelled out to me and his voice… he was… his voice was absolutely horrified…

"I turned, and saw the guy bringing the sword down…. It would've stabbed me right through the chest…

"But, Kakashi jumped in the way and blocked me from it… but he…"

Shi stopped and wiped her eyes. Her eyes were red and puffy and the collar of her jumpsuit was soaked in her tears.

"I-it s-stabbed him… right through his s-stomach… the b-blood just… p-poured out of him… I was s-shaking like I was having a seizure as I… as I stabbed the guy… b-but I didn't kill him… and he ran off…

"I went back to Kakashi… and started to try and wrap up his wound… but he kept trying to tell me something… he was… s-so weak he… he h-had to p-pull his mask off so I could hear him… I was so busy trying to dress his wound… I didn't… didn't hear his words… he eventually s-stopped me, and… it was s-so hard to hear him… over my own sobbing…

"'I love you, Baby Doll,' he said, than he… c-closed his eyes… and he was… he was gone…"

Finishing her story, Shi sobbed hysterically into her hands.

On a whim, Lycan morphed into a puppy and jumped onto the cot, than crawled onto Shi's lap. Shi wrapped her arms around Lycan in a tight hug.

Getting the idea, the other three sat next to her. Kazumi was crying hysterically and tears were running down Clair's face. Raidon stared down at the ground, wiping her cheeks.

"We miss him too…" Raidon said quietly.

Shi said nothing; just held onto Lycan tightly, appreciating the puppy-like affection she gave.

Still crying, Kazumi wrapped her arms around Shi's shoulders and Shi leaned against Kazumi, sobbing.

"Damnit sensei," Clair cried, "you're supposed to kick ass and let us tease you about the hospital bed with your name on it," She laughed weakly, wiping away her tears.

A small and weak chuckle escaped from Shi, but it only turned into another fit of sobs.

When she finally pulled herself back together, Shi wiped away her tears than gave Lycan a squeeze and weakly said 'thank you'. Puppy-Lycan wagged her tail and smiled.

"Shi… did you figure out who it was…?" Kazumi asked.

Shi sighed heavily before answering the question. "That's why I went to Sasuke and left. He helped me look for the guy. We found out that the guy had been hired, along with a bunch of others to kill important ninjas and blame other villages, to start a war," Shi said, biting her lip.

"What'd you do to him?" Clair asked.

"Sasuke and I fought him, trying to kill him, but ANBU came and we had to run so we couldn't finish it… and we've been to busy to go back and finish the job." Shi looked away.

"So, he's still out there?" Rae asked.

Shi nodded slowly.

"I'll rip him into pieces for you," Lycan suggested.

Chuckling weakly, Shi hugged Lycan tightly and scratched her red and black dog ears.

Rae and Clair watched, smiling slightly. Only Kazumi was off in her own world, very deep in thought. When she resurfaced from her thinking, she turned to Shi.

"Did you ever find out who hired him?"

Shi froze and dropped her hand from Lycan's furry ears. Looking down at the ground, she stayed silent for a moment, before shaking her head. A lie.

"Oh…" Kazumi said, looking down at the ground.

"I think I have an idea though," Shi said quietly, feeling guilty about not telling them.

Kazumi's head shot back up and she looked at Shi.

"Who?" Clair demanded.

"Well-" Shi was cut off by the sound of footsteps. She looked at the others, who cringed and looked at each other nervously.

"Get out of here," Shi said in a hushed tone.

"But-"

"Now!" Shi interrupted Kazumi, with an angry whisper. She glanced towards the door as the footsteps got louder.

Lycan morphed back into a bug and flew out the window quickly, while the others put their masks back on. They said 'goodbye', than slinked out of the room.

Shi lied down on the cot and feigned sleep as a group of prison workers entered. They left her a tray of food than left.

As the memory of his death swarmed around in her head, she cried softly, wishing she could get out of the stupid prison. Wishing she could go back in time before any of it had even started. Wishing she'd wake up from this nightmare. Wishing he was still with her.


	18. City

_And its hard to face the facts  
When the darkness fades t__o black  
It's not just make believe  
When they make me take a seat  
And they put amphetamines  
in the air and make me breath_

_The city looks so pretty  
Do you wanna burn it with me?  
Till the skies bleed ashes  
And the fuckin sky crashes_

"_City" – Hollywood Undead_

-

Despite the slight disappoint from the encounter, they knew it had proven to be beneficial. If they could get into Tsunade's file and find a missing-nin that used rock associated jutsus, they could easily narrow down the list of possible murderers. They still wished Tsunade could send some professionals to solve the problem though. His death should've meant something to her; he had been a possibility for the sixth Hokage; he was one of the most respected Jounins. It infuriated them that she hadn't looked into it more. Still, there was nothing they could do about her capability – or therefore lack of – to uncover who had killed him. So, they continued to take it upon themselves to find out.

However, sneaking into Tsunade's private files proved to be much more difficult on this certain occasion than previous attempts.

Walking into the Hokage's tower with Lycan trailing behind in insect-form, Éclair noted the havoc with mild curiosity. Everything was amuck as ANBU and various Jounin ran about in a frenzy.

"What's going on?" Clair asked, to nobody in particular.

"Dunno, but I didn't do it," Lycan said as she looked around.

Clair rolled her eyes at the shape-shifter, than pushed her way through the chaos towards one of the desks. The normally calm desk clerk was looking very frazzled. She looked at the oncoming ANBU member, than heaved a sigh.

"Can I help you?" She asked, feigning politeness, when really, she didn't have the patience for what she could foresee coming.

"Umm, yeah," Clair said skeptically as she glanced around. "What on Earth happened here?"

The clerk gave her a stupefied look and Clair scowled. How was she supposed to know what was going on?

"I really don't have the time to explain this," The clerk said in a rush as she bowed her head back towards her paperwork.

"But-"

"I'm very busy," The clerk snapped. "Go ask your ANBU captain."

With a huff, Clair stormed off.

"C'mon, let's go to Tsunade's room and find out what hap-" Lycan stopped, mid sentence as a crew of medical-nins plowed through the chaos, yelling for everyone to step aside.

Quickly, Clair took a step back as the nins rushed through, carrying a stretcher out of the building. The sight of the bloodied person caused Clair to cringe away. The person was completely covered in blood from a gaping wound on her side. Her chest was heaving from ragged breathing. Despite it all, she was still conscious, and atop of that, still shouting orders.

"Don't let them escape!"

"Send a team of ANBU after them!"

"Contact Suna and warn the Kazekage!"

Clair and Lycan watched, wide-eyed as the medical-nins dashed off with Tsunade, who was still shouting commands, trying to protect her village, even as her blood flowed freely, leaving a trail of crimson behind her.

-

"Akatsuki attacked Tsunade!" Clair and Lycan shouted as they burst through Kazumi's doors.

Kazumi and Raidon both looked up, dumb-struck. "What?!"

"We were in the Hokage's Tower when some medical-nin burst through carrying her out on a stretcher," Clair explained.

After the horrific scene, Clair and Lycan had stayed to get the details. What they found out was; in broad-daylight, a cloaked figure had stormed into Tsunade's room and attacked her. Although his face had been hidden, the red-clouded cloak had made it obvious it was Akatsuki. The Akatsuki had managed to stab Tsunade in the side, breaking a few ribs, before ANBU rushed in and the Akatsuki made a break for it.

After explaining this to the other two, Clair and Lycan collapsed into the couch together. They were still trying to process it themselves.

"It's a cry for war…" Raidon stated quietly as she stared at the wall.

"It would make sense," Kazumi said, "since Konoha has Shi hostage, maybe they want to start a war."

"But they're so easily outnumbered," Lycan pointed out.

"Yeah, but they are top-rank murderers. The best of the best," Clair said. "It's amazing they left Tsunade alive."

"But is it really smart to start a war before they free Shi?" Kazumi asked. "They could be putting her in a difficult situation."

"There's no way they'd risk it. Konoha could easily threaten to kill her. The Akatsuki's smarter than that," Raidon said, frowning. Something wasn't right. It just didn't seem like Akatsuki to do something so brash.

"The ANBU and Tsunade said it was obvious it was Akatsuki though," Lycan said, confused.

"But that doesn't sound like something they would do," Clair said, now doubting what the witnesses had seen.

"Oh, and another thing," Clair added, remembering something else she had found out. "The Kazekage requested Konoha's help. Iwa swears Suna attacked them, so now Iwa and Suna are at war."

"So, now we're at war against Iwa and Akatsuki," Kazumi concluded.

Clair nodded gravely.

Suddenly, finding Kakashi's murderer wasn't the biggest problem on theirs hands.

-

Racing down the hall of the prison, he swiftly stabbed his katana through anyone that stood in his way. He didn't have time for the road-blocks.

"Get him!"

Ruby eyes keeping stock of the nuisances in his way, he darted away at a speed that left the guards dazed and confused.

He finally made his way to his destination. After knocking out the guards, he forced the door in. It flew off its hinges and landed with a loud clang in the middle of room.

"Sasuke?" Shi called out quietly, sitting up on her cot.

He threw her cloak, clothes and ring at the bed, than turned around to give her privacy.

"Hurry," He said as he stood watch.

With a nod, she stripped free of her prison outfit, than pulled on her own clothing and her cloak. She secured her ring on her finger, than ran to her partner.

"Let's go."

They raced off through the prison, staying away from ANBU and guards as best as they could. As they reached the center of the prison, an idea sprang to Shi's mind.

Grabbing Sasuke's katana, she rammed it in the crack between the closest door and the wall. With his katana piercing through the tiny slit, she gave a heave, and the door flew open. The startled prisoner looked at her confused.

"Start releasing all the prisoners!" Shi ordered.

With a nod, Sasuke and the escapee ran off and started breaking off door handles, kicking doors in, and anything they could think of to release the prisoners.

When all of the prisoners were free, which wasn't long, Shi took command.

"Everyone! Listen up!" She shouted over the chaos. Every head turned and looked at her. "We're moving in a group! Take down everyone that tries to stop you! We're breaking free!"

Letting out battle cries, the prisoners surged towards the prison's exit as a group, taking down everything that dared try to stop them, with the Akatsuki duo in the lead.

-

Collapsing onto the cool grass, Shizuka grinned triumphantly.

"Guess second times the charm," She said, looking over at her partner. He had his eyes closed with his hands folded over his chest as if he was asleep. He nodded, letting her know he was awake as well as listening.

Lying spread-eagle, Shi stared up at the stars. She was free. Finally free.

"We got framed for attacking the Hokage," Sasuke randomly said.

"What?!" Shizuka asked, eyes widening. She sat up and stared at her partner, shocked.

"They think Akatsuki tried to kill Tsunade," He said coolly. She never understood how he could keep a calm expression delivering such news.

She watched him from a moment than looked down at the ground. Leader-sama almost always sent her on assassination missions. She was the best for the job when it came to staying silent and unseen. She found it only slightly ironic that her nickname, Shi, actually meant 'death'.

Naturally, she felt she would be targeted for the attempted assassination, but she had been in jail. Surely they wouldn't think of framing her specifically. Than again, it didn't matter; they were framing Akatsuki and she was Akatsuki. Somehow, she was being framed too.

"Who did it?" She asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" He answered with a shrug.

She turned away and glared at the ground. Figured as much.

"So, now we're in war with Konoha," She said.

"Yes. He also staged an attempted assassination on Iwa and played it to blame Suna," Sasuke added.

"He's trying to start another Great Ninja War," Shizuka realized out loud.

"Mhmm…" Sasuke mumbled.

"Than again, he's been trying to since the beginning," She hissed, clenching her fists and glaring at the sky. "I'm going to kill that fucking bastard."

"Me too," Sasuke said bitterly. After a long silence, he stood up and suggested they go back to base.

"Fine." She sighed. Reluctantly, she got up. Leader-sama was undoubtedly going to kill her for the Kyuubi innocent; that was, if he even remembered with the current chaos swarming. She had a feeling, he wouldn't.


	19. Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation

_This battle is on all  
You made beautiful  
Now HATEFUL  
You wretched life wrecker  
Abuser  
Now suffer_

Open fire  
On the desire of the man  
Open fire  
With strife we'll strike down the hand (open fire, build the pyre)  
If i cant make you see the damage you've made(open fire, build the pyre)  
I'll make you wish you'd never been alive

"_A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation" - Trivium_

_-_

The oncoming war and current turmoil had Leader-sama distracted momentarily, from the fact that Shizuka had released Kyuubi. Instead of mentioning the incident, much to her relief, he barked orders to his men – and two women – to get prepared for the battle. Instead of denying the claims and proving they were innocent, he decided to take this on, head-first. It would be pointless to plead innocence; they were guilty of far too many crimes for anyone to believe them. Instead, Pain saw it as a perfect opportunity to set his plans into work. They could capture Kyuubi – again – than let Madara unleash his power on the villages. They would all bow to the awesome might of the Akatsuki.

"Anybody else notice that Leader-sama and Madara seem a little too excited for this war?" Shizuka asked, glancing at her partner as they walked down the hall of the base.

"It's what they've been aiming for. It was going to happen eventually," He said dully.

"Yeah, but it's so risky," She said.

Sasuke said nothing.

"Oh, right. They don't give a crap if one of us dies," Shizuka said, rolling her eyes.

And that was the end of the conversation. Pain had assigned for them to keep a close eye on Konoha's hierarchy and to send word on any upcoming plans for attack. But with Tsunade hospitalized it appeared that Konoha wasn't going to make a move just yet. They'd double patrols and security and ninjas were busy training, but other than that, nothing. No plans were laid out for attack.

When Pain learned of this, Sasuke and Shizuka knew what his plan would be.

-

Naruto and Clair were jolted awake in the middle of the night when Jake and John came rushing into their house, as if the idea of knocking or ringing the doorbell was unheard of. Not to mention, it must have been three in the morning. Immediately, the couple knew something was seriously wrong.

"We have to get Naruto out of here!" John said as he made his way though the house, searching for the Kyuubi host and his girlfriend.

"I'm not going anywhere!" Naruto said stubbornly. "What the hell is going on?"

"It's Akatsuki! They're here," Jake said. "And they're here for you." He looked at Naruto fiercely.

With a scowl the blond held the ANBU's gaze. He wasn't afraid.

"We'll run them out of the village," He said confidently. Jake and John nodded tensely, than left. Looking back at Clair, Naruto sighed and dressed quickly.

"You know this means we'll have to fight Shizuka and Sasuke," Clair said as she readied herself for battle.

"I know," Naruto said quietly as he grabbed his kunai pack and strapped it to his thigh.

After they finished preparing themselves, they sped out of the house to find the village already in chaos. A home only a few blocks from theirs was in flames.

"C'mon, let's go find them," Clair said. Without warning, she ran down the streets to find the Akatsuki threat. Naruto followed her, glancing around and taking in the scene with anguish. Konoha was being destroyed.

Suddenly, there was a blindingly bright light flashed ahead of them, and as soon as it started, it was gone.

"Bombs," Naruto thought out loud, watching the sky.

"Well, let's hurry than!" Clair yelled over the sound of the explosion. The two ran off in the direction of the explosion, bracing for the worst.

-

"Neji-kun! Behind you!" Raidon shouted to her boyfriend as a paper arrow soared through the sky than dived down towards him.

The Hyuuga didn't need the warning though; he'd caught sight of it with his keen eyesight. He turned in his heels and slammed the arrow away with his palm; the Hyuuga signature move, Gentle Fist.

"I don't see the Akatsuki anywhere," Raidon called out, searching with her Sharingan.

"Me neither," Neji admitted bitterly. He was frustrated that his Byakugan wasn't picking anything up. The enemy had to be here somewhere.

"Where is the Kyuubi host?" An angelic voice asked from seemingly nowhere.

Both teens looked up with their clan-inherited eyesight at the blue-haired woman floating above them. She bore the Akatsuki cloak proudly, with large, beautiful wings sprouting from her back. They realized the wings were made of paper.

"We'll never tell," Neji said.

"What a shame," The angelic Akatsuki said. In a flash, she became a barrage of paper missiles that rocked down towards the couple.

-

"Akamaru!" Lycan cried out, lunging for the dog as the massive sword nearly slammed down into the dog. She rolled away with the dog just as the sword pierced the ground where they had been only seconds prior.

"Just tell me where Uzumaki is already," The giant blue shark-man demanded, easily dislodging his sword from the ground.

"I don't think so you freak!" Kiba cried out. With a quick set of hand seals, he jumped into the air and begun to spin rapidly, causing a whirlwind to form. The whirlwind accelerated and slammed against the Akatsuki, slamming him against the ground. His sword flew free from his hand and landed near Lycan.

"I got it!" She called out, reaching for it. As her hand locked around the handle, a much bigger hand overlapped hers.

"Don't you dare touch my sword little girl," The fish-man snarled, having already thrown Kiba off into the dirt.

"Uh-oh…" Lycan said quietly, looking up at the Akatsuki as her boyfriend scrambled up onto his feet. Akamaru whined loudly.

"Stupid mutt," The Akatsuki growled. He ripped Lycan's hand away than span around and lunged at Kiba and Akamaru with his massive sword.

-

"Art is a blast!" The deranged blond shouted, dropping a dozen of his clay bombs atop Shikamaru and Kazumi. The two quickly ducked away, right as the explosions went off. The impact sent dust their way and blew their hair furiously, blinding them temporarily.

"Damnit, I can't reach him with my shadow," Shikamaru hissed. The sun was still down, so he had only a small sliver of light from the moon to fuel his shadow.

"Well what the hell are we going to do?" Kazumi asked, peaking out from their hiding place to look for the Akatsuki member.

"There you are, un!" He said with a smirk, sending a clay bird fast in their direction.

"Kazumi!" Shikamaru cried out, grabbing her wrist and running off with her. The bird followed in hot pursuit.

Panicking, Kazumi looked over her shoulder at the bird and nearly screamed, but somehow Shikamaru remained level-headed, already forming an idea. He pulled Kazumi to a new hiding spot and told her to stay. When she nodded that she would, he ran back out and hurled a kunai at the clay bird, causing it to explode before its creator could detonate it.

"Why you little-!" The Akatsuki yelled, searching through the smoke with his special scope. He ground his teeth together in frustration; the explosion had given Shikamaru just enough light to extend his shadow.

"I'm going to blow you to pieces, un!" The blond shouted, creating another bomb. With a yell of anger, he hurled it down towards his enemy.

"This is so troublesome," Shikamaru groaned. He glanced down at his own shadow, only inches from the shadow of the Akatsuki's. Than he looked back up at the bomb, ready to blow him into pieces.

"Shikamaru!" Kazumi screamed. "No!"

-

"Leader-sama," Sasori called out, running to Pain. "We found Uzumaki."

"Good. Keep him busy," Pain said.

Sasori nodded, than vanished; just a shadow clone.

"Shall we take him now?" Pain asked, turning to Madara.

"Take him hostage and have Konan bring him to base," Madara said. "Oh, and have Sasuke and Shizuka kill the Hokage and the Council of Elders."

Pain nodded. "Our day has finally come." He said as he sent one body out to Konan, and one to Sasuke and Shizuka.

"Yes. Yes, it had," Madara said triumphantly.

-

"Go get Uzumaki; Sasori found him. I'll handle these two," Pain said, appearing behind Konan.

"Of course, Nagato," The blue-haired woman said with a nod. She flew off in a flock a paper birds.

The Pain body turned to Neji and Raidon, who were waiting for the next attack, panting from barely avoiding the last.

"This will be easy," Pain said quietly to himself as he jumped from the trees and landed in front of the couple.

-

"Uchiha! Nara!" Pain called.

"One minute Leader-sama!" Shizuka hissed, keeping her shadowy grip tight around her opponent's neck. When he finally stopped squirming, she released his lifeless body.

"Go kill the Hokage and the Council of Elders," The Akatsuki leader ordered.

Shizuka's eyes widened slightly, than she nodded obediently. She had no problem with talking back to her leader, but she would never directly disobey him, even when asked something of this magnitude. She feared him far too greatly to even imagine disobeying him; especially after the Kyuubi incident.

"Yes, Leader-sama," Sasuke said with a bow of his head.

Leaving a pile of bodies, the two ran off towards the Hokage's Tower, slaying any ANBU they happened to pass.

"Don't disappoint me," Pain said after they had left. This was their last chance to redeem themselves for the screw-up with the Kyuubi. He watched them go, than turned away and drove a kunai through the stomach of an oncoming Konoha nin.


	20. I Will Not Bow

_Now The dark begins to rise  
Save your breath it's far from over  
Leave the lost and dead behind  
Nows your chance to run for cover  
I don't want to change the world  
I just want to leave it colder  
Light the fuse and burn it up  
Take the path that leads to nowhere  
All is lost again, but I'm not giving in_

I Will Not Bow, I Will Not Break  
I Will shut the world away  
I will not fall, I will not fade  
I will take your breath away

"_I Will Not Bow" – Breaking Benjamin_

--

"Sasuke," Shizuka called out, grabbing her partner's attention, "I'll go get the Hokage. You start on the Elders. I'll catch up when I'm done, okay?"

With out a word, he nodded, than sped off in the general direction of the Hokage's Tower, in search of the Elders.

Shizuka turned around and ran in the other direction. She had to kill the Hokage. She'd killed many other important figures for Pain before, but none of them had meant anything to her before. And, none of them had been a Kage. This time, it would be very, very different. With her hands clenched in tight fists at her side, she ran to accomplish her task.

-

"Let go you stupid puppet!" Clair hissed, struggling against his grip, but Sasori just ignored her. "Leave Naruto alone!"

A few feet away, Naruto was in his own battle against Konan, who intended to take him back to the Akatsuki base. He had absolutely no intention of going there. Not to mention, he was going to murder the red-head Akatsuki for touching Clair.

"Rasengan!" He yelled out as he slammed the chakra from his hand into the blue-haired woman. She scattered into a pile of paper that billowed out from the effect of the attack. Grinding his teeth together, the Kyuubi host's normally blue eyes turned a slight tinge of red.

"Hurry up already." Impatient as always, Sasori tightened his grip on Éclair and watched the paper that had once been Konan.

Furiously, Clair squirmed around, kicking and screaming as she tried to struggle away and help her boyfriend.

"Konan!"

The blue-haired woman assembled and turned towards the voice. "What is it?" She asked, glancing over at Naruto, who was frozen to the spot. When she glanced over at Clair and Sasori, the young ANBU had quit her fruitless struggle, and was also still as a statue.

"Leader-sama decided for a change in plans. He wants you to go eliminate the Hokage," The speaker said, casting her dark blue gaze at the people around her; her former teammates and her current ones. "And Sasori-sensei, that rat has finally been spotted. He's your ex-partner; Leader-sama wants him dead."

"And who's going to take care of Kyuubi?" Konan asked skeptically, frowning at Naruto, than Shizuka.

"That's my job," Shi said, gesturing towards the ground. Looking down, Konan and Sasori noted her shadow already attached to the two Konoha Nin.

"You've already messed up once, how can we trust you won't screw up again?" Konan asked, watching the younger girl through narrowed eyes.

Shi glared back, than to prove herself worthy, she turned to Naruto. The blond gasped in surprise as an intangible hand wrapped around his neck and knocked the wind out of him.

"Enough; don't kill him Shizuka," Sasori snapped, frowning at his student.

"Yes, Sasori-sensei," She said unenthusiastically, bowing her head to her teacher and releasing her grip from Naruto's throat. "Now hurry up!"

"No screw-ups," Konan said harshly, glaring at Shizuka before transforming into a flock of paper birds and flying off to the Hokage Tower.

Sasori locked gaze with Shizuka for a split second before he ran off as well.

As soon as the older Akatsuki's were out of sight, Shizuka released her former teammates. "Sorry Naruto, I had to."

He grumbled under his breath, understanding but still not liking it.

"Okay, you need to get the fuck out of here, now!" Shizuka said to Naruto. He didn't budge. She turned to Clair. "Get him out of here."

"I'm not leaving," Naruto snapped defensively.

"If you don't, they'll kill you," Clair said.

"Well they're going to kill you for letting me escape again," Naruto pointed out, looking at his former teammate. She smirked slightly.

"Nope. Capturing you is Konan's job. I was supposed to kill the Hokage." Naruto looked at her dumbfounded, and she rolled her eyes. "I made up Pain-sama's orders. He didn't tell us to switch roles."

"You evil little cheater," Clair said with a devious smile played across her lips.

"But won't you get in trouble?" Naruto asked. "She seemed really mad at you."

"Like I give a crap," Shizuka said, rolling her eyes. "Nobody in the Akatsuki cares about each other. Most of us actually hate each other, which you have already noticed," Shi shrugged. Konan had taken a strong disliking to her after her 'screw-up' with Kyuubi. Not that it really mattered. Everyone was, to be blunt, rude and uncaring towards one another. It was really quite surprising that Shizuka got along with her partner and Sasori. In the group of S-rank criminals, friendship wasn't really a necessity. Instead, it was more of a burden.

"Now, as I was saying, go get your dumb blond ass safe," Shizuka said, pointing for Naruto to leave the village.

"Hey!" Naruto shouted, not taking kindly to her insults.

"Now!" Shi snapped through gritted teeth.

"Make me!" Naruto snapped back.

"Fine! I will!" Shi said. Chakra strings exploded from her finger tips than swiftly attached themselves to Naruto's body.

"Hey! Cut it out!" Clair shouted at the top of her lungs. Both flinched away and the chakra strings vanished in a blur. "How about this; I'll force Naruto into safety if you tell us who killed Kakashi-sensei."

"Deal," Shizuka said, not skipping a beat. With a deep sigh to keep herself calm, she looked Clair straight in the eye than spoke, "Orochimaru hired men to go kill important ninjas in order to start a war amongst the villages. He hired the rock guy to kill Kakashi." She paused, amazed how steady she was able to keep her voice, and how calm she was able to keep, despite the still very difficult topic. She definitely didn't feel as calm as she sounded; she was fighting back the urge to go hide in a corner and sob.

"When a war didn't start, he framed Akatsuki for the attack on Tsunade, as well as framing Suna for the attack on Iwa." Naruto and Clair both frowned at the news. "Leader-sama and Madara decided to use this as the opportune moment to fulfill their plans."

"That would make sense…" Naruto said quietly.

"Wait… Puppet-guys partner was snake-freak right? And he started this war? And you said he's here now?" Clair asked.

Shizuka nodded solemnly. "I saw him when I was heading over this way." She turned to Naruto and addressed him directly. "Now get out. I have to go." She didn't wait to make sure they left; she had told them the story, so Clair had to keep to her side of the promise. She trusted Clair would also want to keep her boyfriend from getting killed. That set aside, Shizuka raced off to find her sensei, and to finally get her revenge against the man that had killed her love.

-

"I am _not _leaving," Naruto said stubbornly as soon as the Akatsuki had left.

"You better not get kidnapped," Clair snapped, knowing it was pointless to argue with him.

"I won't!" He said, annoyed that everyone was underestimating him. He could handle himself, why didn't they get that? Hadn't he been through worse? "Besides, I need to protect my village."

"Fine," Clair huffed, not really liking the idea that he was going to risk his life so stupidly when the village was trying to protect him.

"Than let's go," Naruto said before running off, head-first into the fray.

"You idiot," Clair groaned, racing in after him.

-

Inside the hospital, Konan made her way through the chaos, disguised as a tiny paper bird that went unnoticed by everyone. It was just too easy.

-

As the bomb flew towards him, Shikamaru registered Kazumi crying out to him, but he ignored it. He knew what he was doing, he just needed to concentrate.

At the last second, his shadow flung away from the enemy's, and back towards his body, rocketed up into the air, grabbed the bomb, than hurled it back at the blond Akatsuki. As soon as it was released from the shadowy grip, it exploded.

"Kazumi! Let's go!" He yelled, racing over to her.

"Don't ever scare me like that again!" Kazumi cried, grabbing onto his arm.

"Yeesh, okay," He groaned, racing off with her.

"Shikamaru!" He turned and looked at Naruto, who was racing towards him. "They're going to kill Tsunade!"

"Crap," He hissed under his breath. He looked at Kazumi and ordered her to stay, than turned back to the blond and said, "Let's go."

"Where's Raidon and Lycan?" Kazumi asked Éclair after Shikamaru and Naruto had raced away to the hospital.

"I don't know," Clair said with a shrug. "We better go find them."

-

"Kiba!" Lycan cried as the swordsman made his way towards Kiba and Akamaru.

"Akamaru, run!" Kiba shouted, pushing the giant dog away, but he wouldn't budge. Turning away from his beloved dog, he looked up as the Akatsuki member approached, than slammed his sword down towards the boy and his dog.

"Damnit!"

Opening his eyes, Kiba looked up to see Kisame literally frozen in a block of ice up to his shoulders. The sword was only inches away from Kiba's face.

"Okay, that was a little too close…" Kiba said, sighing heavily.

"Clair!" Lycan cried out, running over and tackling her with a giant hug. "I've never been so happy to see you before! Okay, maybe I have, but you know what I mean. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"Lycan!" Clair gasped as the shifter hugged her tightly. "I… can't… breath!"

"Oh, opps!" Lycan said, releasing the other girl who gasped for breath the moment she was released.

"Umm… guys…" Kazumi said meekly, her eyes wide as she pointed behind them. Lycan and Clair spun around to see Kisame already free from the ice with a whirlpool of water floating around him in a shield. They had forgotten he used water-based jutsus.

"My turn!" Lycan said as her body rippled and morphed. Her skin changed to red and black feathers and her body slowly changed to a bird-like form. When she had fully morphed, which was only a split second later, she hovered over the ground, her wing-span easily twice that of Kisame's height. With a lurch, she rocketed towards him.

Kisame raised his sword to slice at her, but Éclair was a step ahead of him. She dashed forward at lightening-fast speed and slammed her body into his side with all her strength. The outcome; he tumbled over and dropped the sword. He turned to take a punch at her, but by then, thick talons had latched into his shoulders, breaking the skin as she got a good grip. He screamed out as she lifted him into the air.

She spun him around, dizzying her prey, before releasing him. The moment sent him flying elsewhere.

"Problem solved," Lycan said cheerily as she landed, human again. "Can I eat him later?"

"Eww! No!" Clair said, shivering with disgust.

"Absolutely not!" Kiba snapped, frowning at his girlfriend.

"Aww…" Lycan pouted.

Kazumi rolled her eyes at all of them. "Let's go get Raidon already."

"Right," Clair and Lycan said in unison.

"Go ahead. I'm going to go help fight," Kiba said, racing off with Akamaru.

The three girls than took off in the other direction, with Lycan in the lead as they searched for the missing Uchiha.

-

Panting slightly, Neji watched as she the Pain body stood up with a smirk. The thick barreled body had made use of his jutsu-absorbing shield against his enemies.

The Hyuuga glanced over at Raidon. They had thrown everything they could, but this Pain kept absorbing it all. They'd had to resort to simple kunais to actually get some damage in.

"Now what?" Pain asked with a smirk, sauntering over to the exhausted teens.

"This!" Kazumi yelled as she hurled a kunai with an explosive tag at Pain; Lycan and Clair had done the same from the side. Quickly, Raidon threw her own, opposite of Kazumi's. The four kunais struck his body, than ignited and exploded.

"I doubt that's going to kill him," Neji said, looking over at the three girls who jumped down next to Raidon.

"Well it's enough to keep him busy," Clair said, frowning at him. Neji nodded curtly as he watched the explosion with a frown.

"Neji," Kazumi said, remembering something, "Shikamaru and Naruto are probably going to need your help at the hospital."

He looked at her confused.

"The Akatsuki are trying to kill Tsunade," Clair said for Kazumi.

"I'm on it." The Hyuuga ran off quickly.

"Wait, why aren't we going to help?" Raidon asked, looking at the others.

"Because there's something I need to tell you guys," Clair said, thinking back to what Shizuka had said. Even though they were in the middle of a war, the group had been waiting for this, and who knew if they would all make it out alive. She had to tell them now. "I know who killed Kakashi, and who plotted this all out."

-

"Sensei!"

Sasori turned to see Shi running over to him. He frowned at her. "Aren't you supposed to be getting Kyuubi?"

"I already handled it." She wasn't technically lying to him, even though her way of handling it wasn't how the Akatsuki wanted. "I'm going to help you."

"Why?" He asked, still frowning.

"Because it's his fault Kakashi's gone," She said fiercely, clenching her fists and glaring at Sasori. "And if you tell me I can't, than I will anyways."

"You want revenge," He said simply.

"Yes," She answered, even though it had not been a question.

"Fine," He sighed, knowing she was too determined to let him stop her. He'd rather be there to back her up if she needed it than let her go alone. "Lead the way," He said, motioning for her to go. Anxious to get to him before the ANBU could, Shi ran back to where she had spotted Orochimaru, with Sasori following right behind her.


	21. The Good Life

_Too many people stepping over me  
The only thing that's been on my mind  
The one thing I need before I die_

_Hold on, hold on  
I always wanted it this way  
(you never wanted it this way)_

"_The Good Life" – Three Days Grace_

_--_

Lady Hokage's breaths came in short gasps as her body was slowly in cased in paper. Konan watched the Hokage – who was starting to look like a mummy. All she had to do was tighten the cocoon and the Hokage would be no more. It would be a snap.

"Get away from her!"

Konan turned her head slightly and looked at the three ninjas that had stormed into the room. It had been the blond with the whisker marks on his cheeks that had shouted out. Two other boys stood beside him; one with long hair and veins around his pale blue eyes and another with his hair in a ponytail and his hands together.

"Take one step and the Hokage's dead," Konan said, daring them to try.

"If you don't let go, you'll be dead," The boy with the ponytail said, glaring at her.

Recognizing his stance, Konan's glaze flickered down to the ground. Just as she had expected, his shadow had stretched out. Running across the length of the bed, it wrapped itself around Konan's papery neck and than strangled her.

Konan's head exploded from where she had attached herself to Tsunade's body, sending paper scattering across the floor.

"Tsunade!" Naruto cried out, running over to the Hokage. As he touched her forehead, the paper on the ground slithered and collected into a pile. Slowly, it rose into a human-like form as color spread across it and the edges smoothed out.

"There you are, Uzumaki," Konan said, looked at Naruto. She frowned. Shizuka was supposed to get him. She had failed again. Konan wasn't at all surprised. "You're coming with me."

"Naruto, get Tsunade and get out of here," Shikamaru commanded, "We'll handle her."

On cue, Neji shot forward and slammed his fists against Konan's arms, blocking her chakra points as she shot paper missiles at him in defense.

"Naruto! Now!" Shikamaru yelled.

With a nod, Naruto lifted up the Hokage into his arms, than dashed from the room to get her to safety; to the council of elders.

-

Breaking down the door to the designated room, Sasuke sauntered in with his Sharingan eyes sweeping over the elders until they rested on one; Danzo.

"Sasuke Uchiha," The Root leader said, watching Sasuke. "You look just like your brother."

"You'll pay for what you did to my clan," Sasuke said with a scowl. He pulled his katana from his belt and it immediately lit up as Chidori coursed around it. Quickly, he shot forward and stabbed through the old man's shoulder.

Danzo cringed, than yelled to the other Elders, most of which had jumped up in panic. "Get ANBU and evacuate the building, now!"

Following orders, the other elders left, knowing Danzo was capable of handling the problem.

"Did Madara not tell you?" Danzo asked. Sasuke just glared at him. "Guess not." He lifted the bandages that concealed a good majority of his face, to reveal his secret weapon; his Sharingan.

-

Just outside the Elder's Room, Tsunade stirred in Naruto's arms.

"Naruto! Put me down!" She demanded. He did not object and set her down quickly. She staggered slightly, and Naruto helped steady her. "What's going on-?" Tsunade asked. The sounds of birds chirping cut her off and drowned out her sentence.

Eyes widening, Naruto ran into the room. Only one person knew that technique now. The sound chilled him to the bones.

"Sasuke!" He shouted out as he ran in. The Uchiha turned and glared at his former teammate. It took all of Naruto's will power to not glare back.

Taking the chance, Danzo pulled away from Sasuke's katana and grabbed his bleeding shoulder. He than got up and ran from the room, with Tsunade following.

Angered that his prey had gotten away, Sasuke started forward, but Naruto stepped in front of him, stopping him.

"You're not going anywhere," Naruto said.

"And you're going to stop me?" Sasuke asked, with a slight smirk. His face read 'you-couldn't-even-if-tried'.

"Yes, I will! And I'm going to bring you both back to Konoha!" The blond say, determined to have his former teammates return.

"Humph." Sasuke gripped the hilt of his sword tighter. In his mind, he was already dragging Naruto to Leader-sama and Madara. He'd give them what they want, destroy Konoha, than get the hell out of the Akatsuki with Shizuka. After she got her revenge. After Orochimaru was dead. It would all work out. He just couldn't tell her about Naruto. She'd be furious with him. She would never find out.

"I will!" Naruto shouted again, snapping Sasuke away from his fantasy. "Even if I have to drag you both back against your wills!"

-

"Orochimaru?!" Raidon, Lycan and Kazumi shouted at the same time, shocked to their core.

Clair nodded gravely. "He did all of this." By 'this', she meant 'Kakashi and the war'.

"I thought he was dead…" Kazumi said softly, confused and frightened.

"Itachi-itoko killed him though," Raidon said, looking at Clair in disbelief.

"Stupid Itachi didn't kill him!" Clair snapped, frustrated with the Uchiha.

"Hey! Don't you dare call him stupid!" Raidon shouted back, standing up for her deceased cousin.

"He attacked sensei, ruined Sasuke, and chased Naruto everywhere, trying to kill him! That guy was an ass and Naruto has been more of a brother to Sasuke that he ever was!" Clair shouted, voicing her dislike for Itachi.

"Cut it out you guys! Now's not the time!" Kazumi snapped stepping in between the two girls as they nearly took a swing at each other.

"Yeah, let's worry about the snake freak instead," Lycan added in, trying to calm the tension.

Raidon and Clair glared at each other, before turning away and crossing their arms over their chests.

Kazumi groaned and Lycan shook her head. It was obvious they weren't going to get much done with Raidon and Clair mad at each other like that.

-

"Let me heal you," Tsunade insisted, but Danzo wouldn't budge. He just shoved her away without a word. He had to ditch her some how and get to Madara.

"Get to the Elders and make sure they're okay," He said finally.

"I am Hokage and I will do what I think is right for this village!" Tsunade snapped. "You need to be healed."

"Right now, you and the Elders are of far more importance, as well as at risk in this invasion. The Akatsuki wants to kill you. Go hide," Danzo ordered.

She glared at him, frustrated, but she turned to leave, understanding what he was saying, despite how much it angered her.

_Good. Now if Madara can do his job, I will be the next Hokage,_ Danzo thought as he rushed off.

-

With a good majority of Konan's chakra points blocked, Neji stepped aside and looked at Shikamaru. His shadow connected to hers instantly, so she would not escape.

"You're a Nara," Konan said, watching Shikamaru. "You're the one that buried Hidan."

Shikamaru didn't say anything. He was dying for a cigarette, especially at the mention of the bastard that had killed his sensei.

"You can't win," Konan said. "Our God has brought a new era. You will all bow to him."

"Over my dead body," Neji said.

"We won't allow your 'God' to beat us," Shikamaru said. He was getting really sick of all these Akatsuki members that were highly religious. First Hidan's goddess which gave him immortality, than Pain's god complex; it was really troublesome.

"You mean like Hidan's goddess beat your sensei?" Konan asked.

"Shut up!" Shikamaru shouted, allowing his shadow hand to grab her neck fiercely. How dare she! How dare she talk about Asuma that way!

"Shikamaru, if you kill her now, she won't tell us what he need," Neji reminded him quietly.

Glaring at the blue-haired woman, he released her neck.

"Where is this 'God' you keep mentioning?" Shikamaru demanded, fighting back every urge to kill her on the spot. "Where is your leader?"

-

They stood as if they were waiting, but not for just anybody. They had been waiting for two people specifically. The taller of the two smirked as they approached.

"It's been awhile, Sasori," He said with a smirk curling across his pale face.

"Not long enough, Orochimaru," Sasori said coldly to his former partner. He glanced over at Kabuto than said, "You stole my spy."

"Sorry Sasori-sama," Kabuto said with a shrug. His apology didn't reach his face; a delicate smirk showed exactly how un-sorry he was.

"Oh, but who is this Sasori?" Orochimaru asked, glancing towards Shizuka.

"You damn well know who I am!" She shouted, clenching her fists and glaring at him. Sasori frowned at her reckless behavior.

"Oh yes," Orochimaru said. "Silly me, you're one of the Team Seven girls. Hard to forget that face; Sasuke thought about you a lot."

Not even registering his last comment, she took a menacing step towards him. "You killed Kakashi! You fucking ass hole! You're going to pay!"

"Is that so?" The snake laughed.

"Shizuka," Sasori hissed, but she paid him no heed.

She shot off towards him as her katana dropped from her sleeve. She raised her arm, and the bladed glinted in the sunlight.

"Kabuto, deal with her. I'll take Sasori," Orochimaru said quickly as the Akatsuki member rushed towards him.

Kabuto nodded, than pulled out a kunai and defended himself and his master by slamming it against her katana,

Orochimaru than turned to Sasori. "One last battle, for old time's sake?" He asked, laughing.

"I thought you'd never ask," Sasori said, chakra strings already controlling the Third Kazekage.


	22. All These Things I Hate

_Once more I'll say goodbye to you  
Things happen, but we don't really know why  
if it's supposed to be like this  
why do most of us ignore the chance to miss  
oh yeah_

Torn apart at the seams of my dreams turn to tears  
I'm not feeling the situation  
Run away try to find that safe place you can hide  
It's the best place to be when you're feeling like

Me! (Me)  
Yeah! (Yeah)  
All these things I hate revolve around Me! (Me)  
Yeah! (Yeah)  
Just back off before I snap

"_All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me) – Bullet for my Valentine_

_--_

Running down the halls of the hospital, Éclair led the group; trying to find Tsunade's room. She had to make sure she hadn't led her boyfriend into a booby-trap.

When she finally found the appropriate room, neither Naruto nor the Hokage were there; only Neji, Shikamaru and the blue-haired Akatsuki woman, Konan. Instinctively, Raidon and Kazumi went to assist their counterparts, but the boys had it handled.

"Where are Naruto and Tsunade?" Clair asked Neji, seeing that Shikamaru had his – shadow – hands full.

"They should be with the Council of Elders," Neji said.

Nodding a half-assed 'thanks', Clair ditched the others and sped away to where ever it was the Elders stayed.

When she found the room, her heart stopped. In front of her, Sasuke and Naruto were fighting to the death, as they had many, many times before. In that instant, the war outside faded away and there was just her feuding teammates. For a split second, she was on the hospital rooftop, watching as twelve-year-old Naruto and Sasuke lunged at each other, each with their hand ablaze with his own deadly jutsu. Five years later, it was happening again. The same bloodlust glinted in Sasuke's ruby eyes, and Naruto's blue eyes brimmed with determination to save his teammate.

"Naruto! Sasuke!" Clair screamed as they lunged, Rasengan and Chidori at the ready. "STOP IT!"

At the last minute, both froze, mid-stride, suspended in the air, before they were slammed into opposite walls. Cringing, Sasuke rose to his feet and glared at Clair, cursing her telekinesis powers. Naruto grunted and stumbled out of a pile of rubble. He backed away from a Naruto-sized dent in the wall and growled at Sasuke.

"Stop it!" Clair snapped at Naruto. Immediately the growl ceased and he looked away from Sasuke, ashamed. However, it still wasn't enough to keep him from glaring at the ground.

"Hmph," Sasuke muttered, sticking his chin in the air, giving them that cocky, 'too-good-for-this-crap' attitude.

"God damnit you guys!" Clair shouted at them, hands in tight fists at her side. "Just stop it already! I can't do this!" She cried out, shaking her head.

"Than leave. It doesn't concern you," Sasuke said harshly.

"It does too concern her! She was your teammate too!" Naruto shouted. "Doesn't that mean anything to you? You got your stupid revenge! Now come back to Konoha where you belong! Where you _and _Shi belong!"

"You don't understand," Sasuke hissed.

"What don't I understand?!" Naruto shouted back, the anger boiling in his blood. "Just explain it!"

"You wouldn't understand," Sasuke snapped back, glaring.

"What could be so fucking difficult to explain to your own teammates?" Clair asked, watching Sasuke.

"We don't _want _to go back to Konoha," Sasuke said bitterly.

"Why not?" Naruto snapped, dumb-founded.

Sasuke sneered, his patience fading. "You. Wouldn't. Under. Stand."

"And why not?" Clair demanded.

But Sasuke ignored her. He couldn't explain how much he hated the village that had planned the death of his entire clan, as well as ruined his brother's life. How he longed for the day the village would crumble to the ground. How could he explain that to Naruto and Clair? One was ANBU; the other the future Hokage. They would never understand.

"Damnit! I'm bringing you back to the village!" Naruto shouted, racing towards Sasuke.

Sasuke, however, would have no part of it. He jumped into the air as the blond lunged for him. Using his Chidori, he broke a hole through the ceiling, than used Naruto's back as a spring board and vanished through the hole in the ceiling.

-

In an abandoned corner of the village, Kabuto and Shizuka slashed at each other, both aiming to draw the first blood. The odds were against Kabuto; a kunai versus a katana wasn't entirely fair. It was possible to win, but not probable.

Shi drew the first blood as her blade caught in his arm and slashed clean across the surface of his skin.

Kabuto jumped back and immediately healed the flesh-wound. It hadn't even disabled him. He was healed and ready a second later.

He lunged at Shi, kunai thrust forward, aiming at her chest.

Stepping back, she lashed out with her katana, smashing away his kunai. It landed a few feet away and both watched it collide to the ground before looking at each other. Shi smirked, than slashed at him again, and he jumped away. The tip of her blade ripped a hole in the front of his shirt, just barely missing his skin.

He scrambled to grab his weapon, but before he could grip it, a string of dark blue – shadow tinted – chakra pulled it up and brought it to the shadowy puppeteer.

"He really did teach you how to use chakra strings," Kabuto mused to himself, watching Shizuka.

She hadn't heard him. She stood before him, katana in her right hand, his kunai in her left. "It's a shame Sasori-sensei really valued you. Oh well." In her dark blue eyes, he saw a murderous intent.

"Can you really kill me?" He asked, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Watch me," She said, raising her katana. As she brought it down, he reached up and slammed his fist into her stomach, sending her flying back.

"I'm watching," He said smugly. She glared up at him, before bowing her head and coughing onto the ground. On her hands and knees, she was an easy target.

Grabbing the collar of her cloak, he lifted her up and laughed, seeing the blood trailing from her lips.

"I didn't even use a jutsu," He said. Hoisting her up with the one hand, he let his other hand glow blue before striking her in the stomach again.

Her breath left in a gasp and her throat tightened.

"Can't breath, can you?" He asked, smirking. She trashed around wildly, trying to break free from his grasp. Desperately, she kicked at him until her foot made contact between his legs. He dropped her, than fell to his knees, cringing and gasping in pain.

"Dick wad," She hissed, spitting at him. Than she ran off to find Sasori.

-

Fighting poison with poison, Sasori shot poison darts at the oncoming snake. One of the darts shot into the snake's open mouth and lodged itself in the snake's throat, killing it.

Around him, a pile of dead snakes started to gather as the puppet master continued to defeat each one thrown at him. Orochimaru had not tried to attack Sasori yet, on his own. Instead, he kept sending his 'minions' to do his work.

Sasori glanced around for Shizuka and Kabuto, but they had vanished somehow. He frowned slightly. He knew she'd be alright, but he was still worried.

"Looking for your girl, puppet?" Orochimaru teased.

"By now Kabuto's probably dead," Sasori said, avoiding the question. "What a waste."

"Do you really doubt him so? To think that such a child could beat him?" The snake challenged.

"Kabuto is strong, but Shizuka is stronger." The puppet said.

"We'll see," Orochimaru said flatly. He pulled a sword from his mouth, saliva pooling off it and into a puddle on the ground. He charged at Sasori, sword gripped tightly in his hand.

Sasori pulled the Third Kazekage in front of him as a shield, than shot out a wall of iron sand. The sand attached itself to Orochimaru's sword, than ripped the sword away, leaving him defenseless.

Orochimaru smirked. Sasori raised his eyebrow, confused. He was than knocked over by a snake as thick as his chest.

Pushing himself up, Sasori rolled over onto his back and looked up at the snake. The Third Kazekage lay, sprawled out further away. He reached out, chakra strings forming at his fingertips and the snake lunged at him.

But it never made it.

When Sasori looked ahead, the snake was twitching uncontrollably.

"No! You obey me! What's going on?!" Orochimaru roared, furious.

The giant snake than turned, and lunged at his previous master. As Sasori watched, a spark of pride ignited in him as he noted his pupil's shadowy chakra strings attached to the snake.

He left her to deal with Orochimaru, having spotted a very angry Kabuto limping over. Getting to his feet, Sasori grabbed hold of his puppet than approached his former spy.

"I should've known you'd be a traitor," Sasori said.

"Sorry Sasori-sama. Orochimaru-sama just had so much more to offer," The medical nin said nonchalantly with a shrug.

"You'll make a nice puppet," Sasori commented, before attacking Kabuto.

-

"So, Akatsuki wants Naruto, and plans to kill Tsunade," Neji said.

"Sounds about right," Shikamaru agreed, watching Konan carefully.

"Well, Clair went off to find Naruto and Tsunade. And they're with the Council of Elders," Kazumi said.

"They'll probably need help though," Raidon said, looking at Neji, than Kazumi.

"We'll go," Kazumi said to Raidon.

"We'll take care of her," Shikamaru said, cocking his head in Konan's direction.

"Okay," Raidon said with a nod. She took off with Kazumi to the Hokage Tower, to find the Council of Elders in frenzy.

"Tsunade and Danzo disappeared," One of the elder women explained to Raidon and Kazumi. "We don't know where they went."

Right on cue, Tsunade walked in, looking exhausted.

"Where's Danzo?" The older lady asked.

"Not sure," Tsunade said, acting as if Danzo played no importance at all. "Let's get the Akatsuki out, now," She said, ordering for all the ANBU to be sent out. "Where's Naruto?" She asked Raidon and Kazumi.

"We thought he was with you," They both said, shocked.

"He was with… Sasuke…" The realization swept through Tsunade and her eyes widened. "Sasuke had attacked Danzo, than Danzo ran off. I went to help him, but he shoved me away."

"You left him with that… that Uchiha?!" One of the Elders demanded, outraged and horrified.

"He's Akatsuki! He'll kill Uzumaki! What were you thinking?" Another Elder accused.

Raidon and Kazumi didn't stick around. They dashed off to find Naruto, who was probably with Sasuke, fighting.

-

Right as Naruto gave chase to Sasuke, Lycan burst into the room.

"There you are!" She said, running over to Éclair. "What's going on?"

"C'mon!" Clair cried, chasing after Naruto, without explaining. Lycan followed, confused, but she followed none the less.

"What's happening?" Lycan asked, trying again.

"Naruto's chasing Sasuke."

"Again?"

"Yeah. Sasuke's probably going to try to capture him again though," Clair explained.

"Oh…" Lycan said.

Ahead of them, a blur of black and orange rocketed through the streets, desperately trying to save his lost teammate. But Sasuke was nowhere in sight.

-

The pair of Sharingan eyes behind him had not been the pair he had wanted. He hadn't been fooled for a second though.

"You're not getting away, Danzo," The Uchiha hissed, holding his katana to the old man's neck.

"Madara will be very displeased with you, Sasuke," Danzo said.

"Fuck him."


	23. Our Solemn Hour

_In my darkest hours  
I could not foresee  
That the tide could turn so fast to this degree  
Can't believe my eyes  
How can you be so blind?  
Is the heart of stone, no empathy inside?_

_Will we remember all of the suffering  
`Cause if we fail it will be in vain_

"_Our Solemn Hour" – Within Temptation_

_--_

"See them anywhere?" Kazumi asked, looking around with her Sharingan.

"No, you?" Raidon responded, doing the same.

Kazumi shook her head.

From what they could see, the village was almost in ruins. The Hokage Tower and the hospital were still standing, but many homes were in rubble. Fires burned everywhere and smoke clouded the air, turning the sky black. The attack had started early in the morning, but by now, it should have been noon. Nobody could tell though; the smoke blotted out the sun. The village had been brought to its knees in just a few hours.

"Hey Raidon?" Kazumi asked.

"Yeah?" Rae asked, looking over at Kazumi.

"Never mind," Kazumi said, looking away. She was ashamed to admit she believed the Akatsuki was winning.

Raidon frowned, but set her attention straight ahead. She had a good idea what Zumi was thinking. She didn't want to admit it either.

-

"Pain," Madara said, grabbing the Leader's attention. "Go find Danzo."

The auburn-haired man nodded, than took off.

_What's taking him so long?_ Madara wondered, looking around for Danzo. Danzo was necessary for his plan to work.

It struck him like a blow to the gut. Pain had given Sasuke and Shizuka the responsibility to kill the higher-ups of the village. No doubt Sasuke would include Danzo in that, even though he had clearly stated to keep Danzo alive.

What a stupid mistake.

Madara scowled as he watched the destruction of his former village.

-

"You can't hurt me," Danzo said, watching Sasuke from the corner of his eye.

"I can, and I will," Sasuke said. He pressed his katana against the old man's neck, bringing a streak of red to the surface. "I don't care what Madara says."

"Well you should care what I say."

Sasuke looked up. His Sharingan eyes locked with Pain's Rinnegan eyes.

"Release him."

Sasuke hesitated, than pulled away. He frowned at his leader.

"Now go get Kyuubi," Pain commanded.

Sasuke nodded slowly, than jumped off, frustrated he couldn't kill Danzo.

_No problem. I'll give Kyuubi to Madara, than we can get the hell out of here. I'll kill Danzo later, _he thought as he searched for Naruto.

-

As poison swept through his body, Kabuto struggled to get it out, but Sasori continued to throw attacks, not giving the medical-nin a chance.

"Nothing left, Kabuto?" Sasori asked from his behind his shield, the Third Kazekage. Kabuto just glared at him, than doubled over in pain. "You can't even heal yourself. What a shame."

Giving up on healing himself, Kabuto slowly got to his feet and leaned against a tree.

"So she really has taken my place as your favorite," Kabuto chuckled, holding his side.

"You never were my favorite," Sasori said. "Goodbye Kabuto."

He shot another poison dart, which landed in Kabuto's neck. The medic-nins eye's widened and a startled gasp escaped his lips, but the poison had already flowed through his blood. His eyes glazed over and a faint smile touched his lips, before he fell over limply.

Sasori sighed, than turned away. Just another puppet to add to his collection.

Now to find Shizuka.

-

"You really think you can kill me with my own snake?" Orochimaru asked, struggling to regain control of the giant snake.

"That's not how I plan to kill you," Shizuka said, calmly holding her strings to the snake.

"Oh really? Than tell me little girl; how do you?" Orochimaru laughed.

Shizuka didn't answer though. With a forceful shove, the snake opened its mouth, baring its fangs to Orochimaru, venom at the ready.

"Ah, I see. Either I kill my own snake, or I die," Orochimaru said. "Very impressive."

"I already told you, that's not how you're going to die," Shizuka said. With a flick of her wrist, the massive snake swung its tail around, slamming into Orochimaru's body, then crushing him against a tree.

He didn't struggle, and she suddenly had complete control over the snake. Thinking she must have broken his neck or spine, she cursed herself. That's not how she wanted him dead. She wanted him to suffer.

She walked over to his body and inspected it, than froze as she heard laughing from behind her. She spun around and saw Orochimaru, behind her. When she glanced over her shoulder, she saw he wasn't against the tree anymore. Wasn't he just there a second ago?

"You poor naïve child," He laughed.

Quickly, he pulled out a sword and struck at Shi. She jumped away, forgetting the giant snake beside her. She was more concerned with what had happened to her katana. Desperately, she looked around for it.

In her state of confusion, Orochimaru sliced at her, peeling off a shred of cloak from her arm. She gasped and jumped back into a tree. Touching the skin he had sliced, her hand came away warm and wet.

"Got you," He said. She was pinned against the tree.

She raised her hands, chakra strings stretching out from her finger tips towards his sword, but he thrashed about, keeping the blade out of reach. As she desperately tried to get the blade, he slashed at her, until the blade slashed into the strings. At the same time the strings attached to the blade, they vanished as a jolt of pain slashed across her palms. Quickly she glanced down at her up-turned palms. Blood seeped from the center, down her wrists, all the way to her elbows. She tried flexing her fingers, but the movement sent another wave of pain and blood.

"Can't use your strings now, can you?" Orochimaru asked as she pressed her palms against her stomach and ground her teeth together. He raised the sword again, to slash through her, when a wall of iron sand wrapped around him and cocooned him.

"Sasori-sensei!" Shizuka cried with relief, seeing the red-headed puppet master. She got up and ran over to him. "Where's Kabuto?"

"Dead," He said dully, glancing down at his pupil.

"You killed Kabuto?" Orochimaru stared at Sasori. A scowl crossed his face, than faded into a smirk.

"Not again…" Shizuka groaned, knowing his smirk meant he was up to something.

Just as she had guessed, he was. The giant snake hissed – not so forgotten anymore – as it slithered towards the puppeteers, its mouth open; ready to take a bite out of them.

"I'll hold Orochimaru, you get the snake," Shizuka said, as she made slow and painful hand seals. Her shadow attached to Orochimaru's, right as Sasori shifted his iron sand to the giant snake.

Sasori encased the snake's head in the iron sand, than squeezed the sand down, compacting the snake's head. Blood sprayed from the sand and dibbled down to the ground.

Orochimaru watched with hatred and glared at Sasori and Shizuka.

Resting the Third Kazekage, Sasori turned to his student. "Would you like to do the honors?"

Shizuka never tore her glare away from Orochimaru. She nodded to Sasori as she held her hand symbol, blood still pouring from her palms.

"But how long can you hold that? Must be painful," Orochimaru said, watching Shizuka. He glanced up at the sky as a cloud of smoke rushed through the air. Perfect.

As the smoke hit, Shizuka's breathing became strained.

"Shi!" Sasori gasped as she fell to floor, gasping for breath. And releasing Orochimaru.

As Shizuka struggled for breath, Orochimaru shot forward. Turning away from his student, Sasori faced Orochimaru, puppet-less.

Quickly, he shot his hands up and flames burst out of his palms at Orochimaru. The flames rocketed ahead, but missed the snake. He dodged them, barely, than slammed his fist into Sasori's stomach.

The impact sent Sasori flying back, falling apart at the seams. When he collided with a tree, his limbs dislodged and his body fell apart. His heart rolled out, away from his torso.

Both Orochimaru and Shizuka watched the disembodied heart roll along, before it came to a stop. They both knew they had to get it before the other could.

Pulling herself up, Shizuka ran to grab it, at the same time Orochimaru lunged at it with his sword outstretched towards it. She slid, grabbed up the heart, and clutching it tightly to her chest, got it away from Orochimaru's blade just in time.

She quickly got up, still holding the heart to her chest and ran.

"C'mon, Humpty Dumpty! Put yourself back together!" Shizuka pleaded to the heart as she ran over to his torso. Frantically, she shoved the heart into its socket, then looked around for his head and limbs. They had been thrown about everywhere.

When she looked over her shoulder, Orochimaru was on her. With a surprised shriek, she lifted up Sasori's torso and rested it under her arm before taking off again.

"Can't run forever!" Orochimaru laughed as he chased her through the trees.

With her free arm, she hurled half a dozen kunais at Orochimaru. They blew up in his face and blew him backwards, giving her time.

She raced over to his disembodied head, dropped his torso, then picked up his head. Shaking it about, she yelled at him.

"Sasori! Wake the fuck up! Put yourself back together right fucking now!"

"Sometimes you're just as bad as Hidan," Sasori said, his eyes rolling back into place.

With a startled scream, she dropped the talked head and jumped back.

"Ow! Shi!" Sasori snapped. "Don't drop my head!"

"Well don't scare the crap out of me like that!" She snapped back, watching as his limbs slithered back and re-attached themselves.

When he had pulled himself back together, he stood up and looked around. "Where's the snake?"

"Back there," she said, jabbing her thumb over her shoulder, "hopefully in a million pieces. Uh, but, not, you know, like you were. I mean, he should be dead," She added quickly, smiling sheepishly.

He rolled his eyes and patted her on the head. She gave him a disapproving frown, but he didn't notice. He was busy scanning the area.

"Let's hurry up," Sasori said, turning back to where Orochimaru was.

"So impatient," Shizuka muttered under her breath. Before he could rebuttal, she ran off into the smoke, determined to kill Orochimaru.

-

Naruto froze. Behind him, Lycan and Éclair were catching up.

"Why'd he stop?" Lycan asked.

"I don't know…" Clair said honestly. She squinted ahead at her boyfriend. That's when she saw the black and red cloak. "Oh no…"

-

"Are you coming back?" Naruto asked, staring at Sasuke, his expression cold.

"No. I'm taking you with me," Sasuke said, keeping his usual calm.

"Over my dead body," Naruto said, clenching his fists.

"Not yet. I need you alive." In the blink of an eye, he was behind Naruto, hands on the other boy's shoulders.

"How many times will we have to do this?" Naruto asked, glancing over his shoulder.

"This will be the last," Sasuke said.

"Well, I'm not going down with out a fight." He ripped himself away and pulled out a kunai, than turned to his former teammate, who already had out his katana. Then they rushed at each other.


	24. Dear Agony

_I have nothing left to give  
I have found the perfect end  
You were made to make it hurt  
Disappear into the dirt  
Carry me to heaven's arms  
Light the way and let me go  
Take the time to take my breath  
I will end where I began_

_Dear Agony  
Just let go of me  
Suffer slowly  
Is this the way it's got to be?  
Dear Agony_

_Leave me alone  
God let me go  
I'm blue and cold  
Black sky will burn  
Love pull me down  
Hate lift me up  
Just turn around  
There's nothing left_

"_Dear Agony" – Breaking Benjamin_

_--_

Rushing at her opponent, Shizuka pulled out her katana, ignoring the smoke that billowed around her and polluted her lungs. He was waving away the smoke, temporarily blinded. She could take him in that instant; kill him while he was defenseless. But he had to feel it. He deserved to suffer.

When he looked up, her blade was slicing down on him. He stumbled back as it carved into his chest. He glared up at her as blood soaked through his shirt. She smirked back at him. He noted that the handle of her sword was covered in blood, and her grip was weak; he could easily knock it out of her hands.

"It's only fair, Sasori," Orochimaru said, glancing to the red-head, "since you killed my pupil, I kill yours. An eye for an eye, hm," He said with a slight smirk.

Angered, Sasori picked up his puppet and turned to attack his previous partner, but Shizuka stopped him.

"I want to kill him," Shizuka said, holding her arm out to stop Sasori. He watched with a frown as blood fell from the open-wound on her palm, but he backed off.

"You can't kill me alone," Orochimaru said.

Shizuka didn't say anything as she lashed out at him with her katana.

Out of nowhere, he produced his own sword and their blades collided with a 'clang'. He easily overpowered her, and forced her back, before giving a hard shove, which knocked her onto her back.

"Shizuka!" Sasori shouted.

"Got you, little girl," Orochimaru laughed. He pulled his sword out and pointed it at her, then raised it over his head and brought it down.

It stuck to the ground.

Shizuka had rolled onto her side. The blade just barely touched her back.

Hands still bleeding, she shoved the pain to the back of her mind and preformed the proper hand seals. In an instant, her shadow sprang to life and chased him away. She got up and squatted as her shadow jumped towards his.

What she didn't count on was Sasori jumping in to help. The puppet master dashed in behind Orochimaru and pressed his own blade to the snake's back, trying to force him in to Shi's shadow. However, Orochimaru refused to be pinned.

He dashed to the side, out of Sasori's reach, and away from Shizuka's shadow. The lighting made it easy for him to avoid the shadow; the smoke hid any light to even form a long shadow. But the smoke was clearing, and fast. Than she would be at an advantage. He had to act fast if he was going to get rid of her.

Turning on his heels, he raced back towards Sasori, with his blade, as the sun started to peek through the cloud of smoke. He glanced down at his shadow, and was satisfied to find it stretching out in length.

"Sasori! Behind you!" Shizuka cried as Orochimaru raced towards her sensei. Acting fast, she shot her shadow forward, hoping to stop Orochimaru before he could get the chance.

Sasori turned and faced the snake, right as the blade came forward, and struck him through chest, just barely missing his heart.

"You missed," Sasori said, not at all affected by the blade.

"No, I didn't," Orochimaru said with a smirk. He glanced down at the ground, and Sasori looked too.

Sasori's shadow stretched out behind him, but Orochimaru was just close enough that his shadow touched Sasori's. It appeared as if they shared a shadow. At first, Sasori didn't understand. Than he heard the strangled gasp behind him and realized he couldn't move his body.

"Shi…" His eyes widened. It was then that he realized, Orochimaru had aimed a blow that wouldn't kill Sasori, but would fatally wound a normal human. He had chanced the idea that Shi's shadow would connect to Sasori's and not his own. It was risky, but it had worked.

With an almost audible snap, their connection broke and Sasori had control over his body again. He tore the sword from his chest, and then stabbed it through Orochimaru's, before running to his student.

When he reached her, she was laying face-down in a pool of blood. He lifted her up and turned her over in his arms. Although she had not physically been pierced by the blade, blood still spilled from her body.

"No, no, no," Sasori said repeatedly, panicking. "Shizuka! Can you hear me? Shi! Just hang on! Stay with me!" He pleaded, watching her. But her body was unnaturally still. Blood poured from her mouth like a fountain and her eyes were closed.

He pressed his ear to her chest, searching for a heart-beat. He couldn't find one.

"Shizuka!" He yelled, gripping her tighter, but her body was limp and lifeless.

He looked up with alarm as Suna ANBU swarmed through the trees. _Konoha called for backup, _he thought, watching as they rushed over to a dying Orochimaru.

Sasori didn't risk being caught by the ANBU; he disappeared into the trees with Shizuka's body, unaware of Zetsu, who had seen the whole thing.

-

"Leader-sama," The plant-man said.

"What is it Zetsu?" Pain asked.

"Two things; Shizuka Nara is dead, and Suna ANBU have arrived," Zetsu said, watching his leader.

Pain frowned. He'd lost the shadow girl. What a shame. But now they had Suna to worry about. Could they take on two villages?

"Does Sasuke have Kyuubi yet?" He asked, trying to figure out how much longer it would take.

"No, and Madara vanished with Danzo. Don't you think Danzo will betray us? He is Konoha, after all. But he wants to be Hokage. It's not worth the risk. Madara should back out. Oh really, and who are you to doubt Madara?" As the duel personalities of Zetsu argued with each other – as Zetsu argued with himself – Pain abandoned him to go find his partner.

-

Peeking into the hospital window, the leader of the Akatsuki saw his partner unconscious on the ground, while the two Konoha-nins stood over her, backs facing him.

Slowly, he cracked the window open and slid in. Before the young ninjas could turn around, he thrust his hand forward, using his telekinesis powers to slam them against the wall, while he picked up the blue-haired woman, and then disappeared out the window again.

-

As Sasuke neared Naruto, he caught sight of Suna ANBU in the corner of his eye, as well as Lycan and Éclair. With a frown, he ducked away from the blond and, hopefully, out of sight from the ANBU.

He cursed the ANBU organization and Konoha's alliance with Suna. If he tried to take Naruto now, he'd be captured by ANBU for sure. Grinding his teeth together, he backed out. He'd go find Shizuka and they'd ditch the Akatsuki, then go on their way. He didn't need power from Madara.

However, he still had the urge to eliminate Danzo. It would only take a second, and then he'd be done and they could leave.

When he found Danzo, he was frustrated to find Madara there too. He couldn't kill Danzo right in front of Madara. So he stayed back, hidden, and watched.

A moment later, Pain appeared with Zetsu and ushered Madara over, not wanting Danzo to hear. The three Akatsuki separated from the Root Leader and Sasuke took the chance to approach Danzo.

As he snuck over to the old man, the Akatsuki's conversation brought him to a halt. Still hiding, he inched towards them, ease-dropping.

"We need to pull out. Suna has come and we can't get Kyuubi or eliminate the Hokage," Pain said to Madara.

"No, we can still win this. We are not pulling out," Madara snapped.

"Madara, we've already lost a member. To Orochimaru. If we stay in this, we will lose everyone," Pain said, using his authority as leader, even though Madara had formed the Akatsuki.

"Who did we lose?" Madara asked.

"Shizuka Nara."

Sasuke didn't register who had said it; he was too busy hoping he had heard wrong. Shi was… dead? And Orochimaru had… killed her? No, it couldn't be right. Shi couldn't be dead. He stared at the ground, eyes wide, trying to pick up the rest of the conversation, but his mind was racing. He couldn't focus.

He got up and dashed off, not caring if they spotted him. He had to prove they were wrong. Shi wasn't dead. She couldn't be.

With Sharingan ablaze, he ran through the village, desperately searching for his partner. With every passing second, he felt as if it was completely hopeless. How could he find her? What if someone had already picked her up? What if she was buried under a pile of rubble? Or what if Orochimaru had made off with her already? The thought of that filthy bastard angered him. Orochimaru had killed her. It was then that he became determined to brutally murder the damn snake. He'd rip Orochimaru's heart out if he had to. Suddenly, his anger at Danzo was nothing. His hatred for Orochimaru was overwhelming. But by hating Orochimaru so intensely, he realized that he was admitting to himself that Shizuka was dead.

_She's not dead! _He yelled at himself as he furiously swept his gaze through out the village. _She's alive and just faking it. We'll quit the Akatsuki and go to be alone somewhere very far away from this wretched place. It'll be okay. She's not dead. Shi's not dead. Shi can't be dead. Not her too. Oh please, don't let her be dead, _he prayed, biting his lower lip.

When he found her, Sasori was cradling her in his arms. For a minute, he though they were both dead. _No! Don't think that! She's not dead! _Sasori was sitting against a tree, his head bowed. He was deathly still.

When Sasuke stepped up to Sasori, the red-head looked up and looked Sasuke in the eye. They stared at each other for a long time, before Sasori looked away and shook his head sadly.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke…" He said quietly.

The Uchiha lowered himself to his knees. Gently, he took his partner from Sasori's arms and nestled her into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her torso, feeling how little and fragile she really was. Her arms lay limp at her sides and her head was resting upon her shoulder, no longer able to hold itself up. Her lips were parted slightly, with dried blood on them. She looked like she was wearing bright red lipstick.

With one arm wrapped around her shoulder, supporting her body, he lifted his free hand and covered her nose and mouth. There wasn't any air going in or out. Slowly, he trailed his hand down to her neck and searched for a non-existent pulse.

Sasori turned away when Sasuke wrapped both arms around her lifeless body and pressed his face into her chest.

The last time he had cried over someone's death had been Itachi's; before that, his parents'. Only three people had been able to bring tears to his eyes. But now, he discovered, there was a fourth person.


	25. Shadow of the Day

_Sometimes solutions aren't so simple  
Sometimes goodbye's the only way_

And the sun will set for you  
The sun will set for you  
And the shadow of the day  
Will embrace the world in grey  
And the sun will set for you

"_Shadow of the Day" – Linkin Park_

--

The village of Konoha watched with triumph as the Akatsuki members backed away, then fled. The villagers cheered and embraced one another, and even the Suna nins rejoiced. Akatsuki had given up. They still had their Hokage and Uzumaki. It was a fatal blow to the criminal organization. And a victory for Konoha and Suna.

However, some were still troubled.

"Where'd Sasuke go?" Clair asked, looking at Naruto.

"He fled, with the rest of the Akatsuki," He said, looking down at the ground. He had failed, again.

"You guys!" Kazumi shouted, breathlessly as she and Raidon ran over to Naruto, Clair and Lycan.

"We won!" Lycan said with a grin.

"Yeah, but Sasuke and Shizuka lost," Clair pointed out.

"Well let's go find them before they get away," Raidon suggested, wanting to see them before they left. She hadn't seen Shizuka once during the whole battle.

"I'm willing to bet they won't want to see us," Clair said, looking at Naruto. Sasuke definitely would object to seeing them. She wasn't sure about Shizuka though.

"Well, we're going to find them, damnit," Kazumi said, stomping her foot.

"They're busy running away though," Clair said.

"I really doubt they'll stop to chat. It just a waste of time," Naruto said, shocking them all. When did he become so un-optimistic? It wasn't like him.

"Shizuka will come find us when she's ready," Clair said with a sigh.

"Awww," Lycan pouted. Raidon sighed and Kazumi crossed her arms.

"Really you guys. You're not being very smart about this," Clair said. Yes, she wanted to see her former teammates too, but she knew it would be stupid to immediately go chase after the Akatsuki, just to say 'hi'.

"Let's help clean up," She said, changing the subject.

"Okay," The others agreed, almost reluctantly.

They walked off away from the main part of the village where everybody was already working, and went to a more secluded area of the village. They started cleaning up rubble, mostly in silence. As usual, Lycan tried to start up a conversation, but nobody would join in. After a while, she gave up.

Raidon rummaged through the debris, with her Sharingan trained into the dirt. She looked up and saw, from a distance, two young men, sitting on the ground, all alone. Then she realized, one of them was holding a lifeless body and crying into it. She looked away sadly.

"What's wrong Rae?" Lycan asked, noticing that Raidon had stopped working.

"Oh… I just," Raidon sighed, "I saw these guys with a corpse. One of the guys was crying…"

"Awww, poor guy," Lycan said.

"How many people died?" Naruto asked, afraid to find it was a large number. He knew they had probably lost a lot, but he was still hoping they hadn't.

"I don't know, but I heard the Akatsuki lost one," Kazumi offered weakly.

With a gasp, Raidon looked back up to the men in the distance. She couldn't make out the details of their faces, but she could see enough to identify them.

"Oh god…" She said softly, eyes widening.

"What?" Everyone else asked, looking up at her.

"Shi!" Raidon cried, abandoning her work and running to the two she had recognized as Sasuke and the puppet master, Sasori.

"Huh?" Naruto asked clueless-ly, but the others understood almost immediately. They followed Raidon, terrified of what they would find. Hesitantly, Naruto followed.

Looking up at the oncoming group, Sasori assumed he and Sasuke would be arrested, but they weren't ANBU. At least not all of them. And they weren't there to arrest them. When they crowded around Sasuke, he frowned.

Sasuke only held onto Shi tighter as the group surrounded him. _No, no, please, don't take her away from me, _he thought, refusing to look up at the people around him. That is, until he heard a familiar voice calling his name,

When Sasuke looked up, Naruto was watching him with sad eyes. Sasuke's eyes were red and puffy, and he was only slightly ashamed that he had been caught crying, but he realized, everyone around him was too.

They wouldn't get closer, as if he was holding a contagious virus. But they were staring, tears streaming. Instinctively, he held her tighter, trying to hide her, knowing she hated being stared at, but then he remembered, it didn't matter.

"H-how?" Naruto asked, still watching Sasuke, but Sasuke couldn't answer.

"Orochimaru…" Sasori said weakly, feeling as if it was his fault.

"That fucking bastard," Kazumi cried.

"I'll eat his damn heart out," Lycan said, wiping her eyes.

Raidon dropped to her knees and tried desperately to heal Shizuka, but her body was already cold. It was too late.

"God damnit," Raidon sobbed, pulling away and burying her face in her hands.

Naruto kneeled down next to Sasuke and looked Shizuka. "I'm sorry I was always… arguing with you… Thank you… for saving me…"

Slowly, Clair sat down next to Naruto and watched Shi. She wiped her eyes and sniffled. "Well, you get to be with Kakashi-sensei again… But damnit, it's not fair," She cried.

Wiping his sleeve against his face, Naruto wrapped his other arm around Clair's shoulder and pulled her in close, allowing her to cry on his shoulder. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other, and although Sasori, Raidon, Kazumi and Lycan were still there, they were only aware of Clair's crying, and Shi's body between them.

"Please, come back…" Naruto pleaded. "We're going to need you…"

Sasuke stared at Naruto, watching the tears roll down his face. He had never imagined Naruto would cry over Shi, but now, he realized, they were all he had left. He'd already lost his parents, his brother, his sensei, and now Shi. Who else did he have left? He had nowhere else to go.

"Okay…" He said quietly.

-

They watched as she was lowered into the ground. More people came than they had expected; even an ANBU that simply introduced himself as 'Leo', an old friend. If only she had known how many people missed her.

Sasuke, Éclair, Naruto, Shikamaru, Lycan, Kazumi and Raidon stood closest to the grave, but they all knew she was closer to her siblings and Kakashi. Hidden somewhere in the very back, Sasori watched as well.

Even long after everyone else had left, the remaining members of Team Seven sat around the grave, telling stories. They laughed and cried, until the sun set. The whole time, they swore they could hear Shizuka and Kakashi, telling stories, laughing and crying with them.


	26. Epilogue

"I'm serious, dad," I said looking over at him. He shook his head with a smile. He still didn't believe me. Frustrated, but smiling, I gave up. I shook my head, and looked away from him.

That's when I saw her. I hadn't expected her to come just yet, so I was definitely sad and upset to see her. I would have been fine waiting years. I would have preferred to wait a few years. But the moment she saw me, a light sparkled in her eyes and she ran towards me. Upset as I was, I was still excited to see her. I don't even think excited was the word to describe it. I didn't know how to describe how I felt. How do you describe being in love? That's the only way I can say it. I was seeing my love again.

Her arms wrapped around my chest and I picked her up, then spun her around. I had missed her so much.

"Oh, I missed you so much," She cried happily, echoing my thoughts.

"I missed you too, Baby Doll. I missed you too," I said, holding her tightly. I kissed her head, her forehead, her cheek. She laughed and cried, and I did too.

"Guess this is her," Dad said. I looked over at him and saw him smiling at us.

"Yeah," I said proudly, looking down at her. She smiled up at me. Her smile was enough to melt my heart. Had I mentioned how much I had missed her?

"That's your dad, right?" She asked. "Nice to meet you," She said to my father, without waiting for my answer. We looked way too much alike to not be related. She had it figured it out just fine.

"Nice to finally meet you too," He said, with a grin. He than cocked his head in my direction, "He wouldn't stop talking about you." I felt myself blush, and they both laughed. I was too happy to not laugh too.

"Alright," My dad said, getting to his feet. "I'll leave you two kids alone. I'm going to go find your mother," He said to me with a smile. He had waited for me, for years. He must have missed mom like crazy.

"Hey dad," I called before he could leave, "We're coming with." I looked at her for approval, and she nodded.

"Alright," He said, as he waited for us. I took her hand, and we caught up to him.

She swung my hand and hers cheerily, her face lit up, her eyes shinning. She danced slightly as she walked, and started singing a song about how happy she was, which, to our amusement, ended with "I am good, I am… I'm outta here. Screw you."

Dad and I laughed, and she grinned. The song fit her only too well.

"Oh yeah, mom's going to love you," I teased her, shaking my head with a smile.

She giggled and grinned from ear to ear, still holding onto my hand tightly. At that moment, I was easily the happiest man in Heaven.


End file.
